Yugioh: The Second Stardust
by Ian Fleming apprentance
Summary: In a future New York City, a young man has found a card of legend. A Stardust Dragon card, armed with it, his Elemental Hero deck, and his own intelligence this new young hero is beginning an adventure through the excitement and nightmares of Dueling
1. 01 And so it Begins

Yu-Gi-Oh

No Limits

Turn 1- And so it begins

By Kevin Jones

_**Prologue**_

Long ago, while mankind was still just learning how to walk, Sorcerers played games of great and terrible power, but these "Shadow Games" erupted into a war that threatened to destroy the entire world until one final climactic battle separated the world of man and the world of shadow forever, but nothing quite lasts forever.

_**Present Day: October, 1 2040 **_

The day has started like any other. I've woken up to the sound of my alarm clock and with my head still in the pillow I'm reaching over and… boom! Right against the wall, damn it, throwing it hasn't made it stop the ringing.

I got up slowly and just sat there for a few minutes as I continued the slow process of waking up, I'm not a morning person.

I looked up, expecting to hear my roommate complaining that I tried to kill him with an alarm clock, again, only to remember that I have no roommate, not anymore anyways.

…

Dewint academy is one of the richest schools in the world. Now to put that into perspective we are in New York City. Even though there's a Satellite Sector it still isn't cheap to live here, especially to be in a big campus with the East River in one direction and Manhattan in the other.

Plus the whole museum in the front of office should help you figure out how spoiled we are. Although it is kind of cool to have some of what's left of the old New York City here, you know, the one before World War 3 blew the city to smithereens and rebuilding it including putting about half the city's left over population in the ruins of what's left while the rich people get to live on top of the new city, getting to completely forget about the rest of it and this dinosaur of a school is no different.

I shouldn't be surprised because everything in this school is ridiculously old, including our Principal.

Honestly the only interesting thing here is the 2033 winning Duel Disk and deck which has its rightful place hanging over the stage in the auditorium; unfortunately it wasn't long after that when the school decided to cut its Duel Monsters program, why you may ask, because Dewint Academy is the closest thing to, assuming it actually is, hell itself.

If by this point your thinking I've got a frown on my face your right. I've also got short jet black hair that's flat on the top and sticks out forward; this is not intentional, I've spent the better part of my life time trying to figure out why it's like that. I've also got dark brown eyes, I'm thin, and I have a large scar on the left side of my neck; why you may ask, well that's my business.

Believe it or not though I'm not the first student that comes to mind when people think of this school; I'm not rich, I don't have any previous generations who came here and I'm only here via "someone Else's charity," as most people like to put it, and most of the people here never let me forget it.

…

Now that I've cleaned myself up, in a shower room that's way to clean for a Boarding School, I've got to put on my stupid uniform.

It consists of a dress shirt, jacket with the school emblem on it, which is basically a circle with a gold fancy looking Club, like on a playing card, pants which must be ironed, shoes must be clean, tie must be real so everyone looks exactly the same with not a single difference, after all appearance is everything.

The dorm rooms are average. Each one comes with 1 to 2 beds, dresser, a closet and a desk; some of the older rooms have a small crawl space in the back of the closet. Sometimes you'll find little things like old pictures, notes, a smuggled in can of beer, all from previous generations of course but I found something special in mine, something very special.

I also have my deck placed in my Wrist Dealer which I keep tucked under my jacket sleeve as well as my Duel Disk in my back pack.

…

Now for the most important part of the morning, making it to breakfast; not Breakfast itself, making it to breakfast and believe me-

"Good morning Honey!"

Oh crap. "What do you want Millay?"

This is Millay, A.K.A Satan, she's head master Dewint's Granddaughter, so she usually gets whatever she wants. Plus if the big shot family doesn't work she can usually get what she wants with a toss of the shoulder length blond hair, a bat of the the deep blue eyes, and a large rack with a slender body doesn't hurt either.

"Don't talk to me like that."

"Then don't talk to me."

"Behave, that's all I'm asking for you to do is to be on your best behavior during the assembly today."

"What assembly?"

"You don't know?"

"Does it sound like I know."  
>"For your information we're having a guest speaker this afternoon, all students are obligated to attend."<p>

"I'll make sure to skip it."  
>"You might want to reconsider once I tell you who it is."<p>

"Let me guess, some old fart from forever ago who's going to tell us how much this school changed his life.

"Actually, and you'll like this, it's Scott Truman."

Wait a minute, there, there's no way. I'm standing here about to fall over and she's saying it completely calm, as if was natural. Clearly her plan worked and she's got me in her web.

"How come?"

"Not sure only that he's going to give a lecture on how and why he got an award from The NAACP and then he's going to select one random kid in the audience to duel him."

"One of the top Duelists in the world… is coming here to duel one of us."

"Well it's probably going to be me."

"Why you?"

"Because my Grandpa runs this place," she says this with a lot of pride.  
>"Fare enough, why do you want to duel him, you barely ever play?"<p>

"True, but think at how much it will boost my popularity here if I can say that I threw down, with one of the best and one of the most handsomest Duelists in the world; plus it'll make a great story to tell our kids."

"When is it?"

"Right after lunch and like I said, be on your best behavior, I don't want you pulling any revenge antics when I get selected. See you later Darling."

Well at least she's leaving, could you all tell how evil she is, if not don't worry; I'm sure all of you will realize what I mean soon enough.

…

All I've been able to think about all morning is the idea of being able to duel Scott Truman and if so how I could even make a decent match for him, which goes to show just how much I care about my classes, but there is one class I'm willing to let myself get distracted for.

"So instead of just using bruit force, the mighty Spartans used their strong bronze shields to guard themselves from the enemy's blows and used their swift swords and spears to lay fatal damage to their enemy's!"

Professor Moretti, most likely from Italy or at least that's what he sounds like. He isn't too old, but his hair's going grey, he looks like he hasn't been getting a lot of exercise and he has a thick black mustache.

"Though there probably wasn't exactly 300 soldiers the number paled in comparison to how many Persians there were that day!"

He teaches with enthusiasm and rarely sticks to the curriculum, often teaching things that we'd never find in a text book, because of this he's usually on academic probation but I like him, making him the only teacher here I can even stand.

Well the bells ringing but most likely Moretti isn't going to let us, his audience, go. This is normal; the man likes to talk and everybody loves not getting in trouble for missing class time.

"OK, class is dismissed. Now go eat and remember the assembly later."

I'm in no rush; the lunch line tends to go quickly and most like-

"Out of the way freak!"

Oh man, some jerk just knocked me to the ground, and I wasn't even fully out of my seat yet. Plus, when my Wrist Dealer hit the ground all my cards flew out onto the floor.

"Oh my you might want to look into getting that thing fixed."

"Sorry sir I'll clean it all up immediately, just don't tell the principal on me."

Moretti is giggling, which I assume means I'm not in trouble; we're not a loud to have cards on us during class.

"Don't worry you are in no danger from me. It's a fascinating game and probably the only one that in some ways has gotten to all social classes." He has a tendency to say weird stuff like that.

He's pulling a pack of cards out of his pocket.

"If it were me I'd chose you to Duel with in a heartbeat."

"Thank you sir."

…

"Now everyone please be quiet while Mr. Truman gives his presentation."

As long as every day felt like is how fast lunch went. I ate so quickly I almost gagged, twice. I added the cards Moretti gave me to my deck, knowing full well I'm probably not going to get to duel.

Scott Truman is tall with an Afro. At 24 he's the youngest professional who is currently on the circuit.

He's from this city, Harlem I think, and good chance that's got a lot to do with why he's presenting today.

"I may not have attended some fancy Duel academy but everyone around me was my teacher."

At that statement I hear a little "humph" come from the girl next to me. The girl next to me is wearing one of our uniforms, catch is she looks too young to go this school, about maybe 10 or 11, and the youngest we admit here is 13. The shirt and the skirt look way too big; she has pail white skin with dark red hair that she has up and an expression that looks angry and blank at the same time.

"Now then, I'm in the mood for a Duel and which one of you eager looking students is interested?"

He's scanning the auditorium, slowly and- holy crap he's stopped at my section. I can tell he's made his selection but Millay isn't even in this section.

"You 7 seats in from the 6Th row up," holy crap, he's picked me.

I better make it down, but I wonder what the mystery girl looks like now… well looks like she's got a genuine expression on her face, shock.

It's only taken me a second to make it down to the stage but that second has felt like an eternity.

Scott doesn't seem as tall as I thought he was, of course I'm no short stop myself.

"Alright then ready to do this," he said.

"I'm always ready for a good Duel."

"I like your attitude kid, what's your name?" "Rhodes Chase Rhodes, now it's time to duel!"

Scott

"Alright then since you have the home field advantage I'll go first.

I summon The Six Samurai-Yariza in attack mode." (ATK: 1000/DEF: 500) From the audience voices can be heard.

"Hey how does this game work again?"

"Well basically once per turn you play a monster card, you then have it attack an opponent's monster card and one player will lose life points based on the difference in ATK points, first player whose life points hit zero loses."

Chase

"Not bad I summon Elemental Hero Voltic in attack mode (ATK: 1000/DEF: 1500) next I play the spell card Heated Heart to increase Voltic's attack power by 500 points (ATK: 1000-1500/DEF: 1500)." "Wait a minute now what did he do?"

"He played a spell card which has the ability to increase his monsters attack points."

"Now Voltic attack Yariza, Voltic Thunder!"

When Voltic attacked, Yariza dodged and prepared to launch an attack of his own only to realize that you can't dodge lightning. (Scott's Life points 4000-3500)

"Next I play one card face down and it's back to you."

Scott

"Clever, I summon The Six Samurai-Zanji in attack mode. (ATK: 1800/DEF: 1300) Now Zanji attack his Voltic, Bright Samurai slash!"

"Not so fast, I reveal a little trap card called Scrap Iron Scarecrow."

The samurai's attack was ended and the tall Samurai and the scarecrow returned to their respective sides of the field waiting for another chance to strike.

"Wait what just happened?"

"He activated a trap card; they basically work by playing them face down during one turn and then activating them another."

Chase

"Now then I switch Elemental Hero Voltic into Defense mode and next I summon Elemental Hero Clayman in Defense Mode (Attack: 800/DEF: 2000) as well."

"Wait a minute what's defense mode?"

"Defense mode is when a monster card is turned sideways, now when the 2 monsters battle you are facing its DEF points and if it's destroyed you usually won't lose life points."

Scott

"You're pretty good but I didn't get where I am by falling for traps and defense now did I. I summon The Six Samurai Yaichi in Attack mode (ATK: 1300/DEF: 800) now I activate his effect allowing me to destroy one spell or trap card you have on the field and I'm going with your Scarecrow, now Samurai Arrow!"

The arrow struck the place where the projector indicated a trap and as it has worked for centuries the arrow killed its prey.

"Next I play the continuous spell Defense loss. Now when a monster you control is destroyed via card effect you'll lose life points equal to the monsters Defense points. Zanji attack his Clayman with Bright Samurai slash!"

"But wait you'll lose life points to!"

"Now I activate the special ability of my Zanji destroying you're Clayman". (3500-3300) (4000-2000)

Kevin

"You are good. I summon Elemental Hero Stratos (ATK: 1800/DEF: 300) in attack mode next I activate his special ability allowing me to destroy you're Defense loss. Next I switch Voltic into attack mode and equip him with the power of Fighting Spirit, now he's going to gain 300 attack points for each monster on your side of the field. (ATK: 1000-1600/DEF: 1500) Now Stratos attack Yaichi with Stratosphere storm!"

"Oh no you don't I activate the effect of my Yaichi now I can destroy Zanji instead." (3300-2800)(ATK: 1600-1300)

"Now Voltic attack Yaichi with Voltic Thunder. Now normally both monster's would be destroyed cause there attack points are the same but by discarding my Fighting Spirit my Voltic is spared, next I'm going to place one card face down and call it a turn."

Scott

"I can't remember the last time I had a duel this exciting, I summon The Six Samurai Nisashi in attack mode (ATK: 1400/DEF: 700), now destroy his Voltic with wind Samurai slash!"

Voltic fired his lightning but it wasn't anywhere near quick enough to hit the Samurai of the wind (2000- 2000) sorry but I've got a little guy in my hand named Kuriboh and he allows me to discard him in order to set the battle damage from that attack to zero." "Not bad I set two card faces down. Let's see what you've got."

Chase

"Come on deck I need a winner."

Suddenly a nice long grin came across Chase's face as he said to himself.

"Thank you Professor Moretti. I summon The Tuner Monster Debris Dragon in attack mode! (Level: 4/ATK: 1000/DEF: 2000)

"Wait a minute what's a tuner monster?"

"Watch and you'll find out."

"Now technically my Debris Dragon can't be tuned with a level 4 monster so with my Miniaturize trap card I'm going reduce my Level 4 Elemental Hero Stratos in to a Level 3 Stratos!"

"What does he mean by tuned?"

"Shut up!"

"Now I activate My Debris Dragon's effect allowing me to summon a monster from my graveyard and I'm going with my Kuriboh. (ATK: 300/DEF: 200/Level: 1) Now I Tune my Debris Dragon with my Kuriboh and Stratos!"

"Does that answer your question?"(4+3+1=8)

The 3 monsters flew into the air de-materializing. Debris Dragon turned into 4 elegant green rings which centered themselves on the outlines of Stratos and Kuriboh. When the 2 monsters vanished they revealed 4 small stars that fashioned themselves equally among the rings and with a burst of light.

"I Synchro Summon Stardust Dragon!"

The elegant white Dragon let out a great roar and focused its 2 giant yellow eyes at Nisashi.

"What in the world? There's only supposed to be one of those, so how on earth did you get one?"

"Let's just say I found it in my closet, now Stardust Dragon Cosmic Flare! (2800-300).

"Hey wait a minute shouldn't Scott have only lost the difference between Nisashi and Stardust's ATK points instead of the whole thing?"

"Yeah maybe something's wrong with his disk." Then everyone's questions were answered.

"I activated my trap card tactical retreat; returning my Nisashi to my hand and making your attack direct."

"But now you get to summon it back with double its attack points so long as after your next turn you take it out of play and lose life points equal to its original attack points."

Scott

"You bet, next I re summon The Six Samurai Nisashi with double his attack points (ATK: 1400-2800) next I play Graceful Charity allowing me to draw 3 cards so long as I discard 2. Next I activate my second trap Return of the Six Samurai allowing me to special summon 1 six samurai monster from my graveyard so long as I destroy it at the end of my turn. Now I summon Spirit of The Six Samurai (ATK: 500/DEF: 500) now I can equip him to my Nisashi and increase his ATK and DEF points by 500 points (ATK: 2800-3300/DEF: 1400- 1900). Next I equip Nisashi with Zangetsu which will double his attack points once more! (ATK: 3300-6600/DEF: 1900-3800) Now Nisashi attack Stardust Dragon!"

The 2 monsters began to battle with a whole stadium of people watching.

"It's OK Stardust we tried after all they don't call him number 1 for nothing (2000-0)

Winner: Scott Loser: Chase

The 2 men walked down from their respected platforms and towards each other and extended their hands.

"Excellent match, if I hadn't drawn the right card you would of one."

"I'll remember that for next time."

The 2 began to walk away happy with what had just transpired.

…

When Scott opened the door to his limbo he found his angry publicist ready to rant.

"You know Scott that was a waste of time, we made no money on this and it's not like he actually stood a chance against you."

Scott laughed and said. "First of all money is for greedy fools like you and second no matter what that score board says he won today, he won something more important than bragging rights." "What's that suppose to mean?"

"We'll all see soon enough."

Scott sat down and closed his eyes happy with his handy work.

…

I'm on the roof now. It's peaceful here. No Millay to bother me, all I have to is sit and stare at the sunset and think.

"Heros, I don't know what's keeping me from upgrading to a new deck but, here we are. Still Scott Truman, I knew I wouldn't win, but how close I got, amazing.

"Yeah, but it still would of been nice to win."

Who the hell was that? There was no one here when I got up here and I didn't hear the door open, but I could've sworn I just heard a small child's voice.

"Who's there?"

"Well that's a little hard to explain."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"Just follow me. There are some people who have been waiting years to finally talk to you."

Next time: Turn 2-The Girl who could awaken the shadows

"I took a deep breath and reached in. With a flash of light I felt a pain so powerful I felt like my arm was about to disintegrate. I cried out in pain but those around me new the rules, if I pull my hand out I die."


	2. 02 The Girl Who Could Summon The Shadows

Yu-Gi-Oh

No Limits

Chapter 2-The Girl who could awaken the shadows

By Kevin Jones

"Keep it up Chase you've almost got me."

Time to recap; about several ago I had a duel with the number 1 duelist in America, Scott Truman. At about 7:00 p.m. I was watching the sunset on the roof of my school when suddenly I started hearing a little voice. I knew I was alone so it wasn't another student, and no one wants to admit their crazy so I decided to follow it.

9:00 p.m. I'm now in the Middle of New York City trying not to bump into pedestrians. At this rate I think-

"Ok were here."

We're at Bryant Park, honestly I'm relieved that this chase is over, but Bryant Park, I was thinking maybe something a bit more interesting like Ellis Island, or Greenwich Village, hell even going into the Sewers wouldn't be as anticlimactic as Bryant Park.

"Well what are you waiting for you've got something important to do."

Well I guess there's only 1 thing to do.

"Might as well."

What the hell? All of a sudden I feel I feel like I just got the wind knocked out of me.

How the, the park was empty, now it's got about 20 or 30 people in it, all staring at the same thing, me.

I don't know why but I'm being drawn to these people. Even though I have no idea who these people are I find myself now only 10 steps away, now 9, 8, 7- Wait a minute these aren't people, they look more like Duel Monsters, more specifically, my Duel Monsters.

"In all these years of waiting I never once lost hope."

It's Elemental Hero Voltic, purple costume and all.

"What hope?"

"Hope that you'd reach the day of your Inclaim. I'm excited that our 10 year wait is over."

"What's going on here and what's an Inclaim?"

I think its safe bet I have absolutely no idea what is going on here.

"Allow me to explain." I watched as Elemental Hero Clayman walked out of the crowd, each step loud and heavy.

"You have a power that separates you from most of society. For as you can now see, you have the ability to talk to Duel Spirits.

"That's impossible, I, I must be going insane!"

"Oh really then how do you explain your Stardust Dragon?" From his tone I can tell he's leading me on.

"Stardust?"

"Think about it Stardust Dragon is a one of a kind card that, until a few years ago, had only one known copy; owned and frequently used by Yusei Fudo in Japan. Which brings up the interesting question how did you get one?"

"The thought had occurred to me."

"Well then allow me to explain. StarDust Dragons are an interesting species. Like some other Dragon species they can pass threw from the spirit world into this one with no trouble. Dragons Species like Ancient Fairies, Black Roses, Black-Wings, and Red Archfiends usually only pick one human in a generation as a partner but Stardust's are different.

You go into any museum, anywhere and you find stories of Mystic dragons that aided Man in times of trouble. Though many of these dragons look different and some eventually even became interpreted as different creatures all together they all come from one simple fact, throughout your history StarDust Dragons find new ways of aiding Humanity, it's why their called StarDust. Their light spreads everywhere and 2 of them have figured out a new way to spread their light, through dueling. The first human to receive this honor is Yusei Fudo and the second is you, Chase Rhodes. "Why me?"

"Because," Elemental Hero Stratos has now interrupted Clayman, "not only can you communicate with your deck, but you are a brave, selfless person who wouldn't think twice about helping somebody."

"Sorry but you're wrong. I only look out for number 1 and I don't give a crap about anyone else," and I'm telling the truth, believe me.

Stratos has tightened his blue fists and sounds angry.

"That is a lie! You used to do whatever it took to do what you believed was right, and you always put others first!"

"Those days are over and I don't need anybody."

"Don't you, don't you understand bonds are the most powerful things in the world! Without them were nothing, you used to understand that more than anyone and I know you still think about her."

There was silence after that, and I knew that I had to change the subject.

"So what's an Inclaim?"

"Finally," A tall winged man all in green, usually referred to as Elemental Hero Avian, has stepped forward.

"We could probably spend the rest of the night talking about your issues but right now we have to get down to business. The Inclaim is the ceremony in which you will pledge yourself to the duel. For one reason or another your power was doormat but something in your duel today awoke it, and now we are giving you the right to chose. If you chose to accept you will most likely live a life of solitude. The power you will gain will separate you from the rest of society, in the end you will be an outsider. Duelists who make this choice don't die like most celebrities, they don't have drug overdoses, they lose to Duelists like them, Duelists who can bring their monsters to life and they won't show hesitation. If you ever lose to these kinds of people then they will kill you."

"And if I say no?"

"This entire night will be erased from your memory and you will continue with your life as normal." "That ain't going to happen, and as for a life of loneliness I'm already half way there anyways." "Very well then."

With that there's a new energy surge going threw me. This one is so powerful it's got me on the ground and it has become hard to breath. As I struggled to get up the statue of William Cullen Bryant that stands at the other end of the park has been replaced by a large suspended glowing multi-colored Sphere.

"What in the world is that?"

"I take it you know what Ener-D is."

I'm nodding my head being that it has become too hard to talk.

"Ener-D is more than a cheap energy source, it flows through all life forms and if you are to become a true Duelist you must have the power of Ener-D flowing through you at a rate unlike others. But be warned once you stick your hand in their it cannot be pulled out until you have absorbed every last particle."

"What happens if I do pull out to early?"

"Use your imagination." With that sign of encouragement from Avian I slowly walk towards the light, each step harder than harder the last until somehow I'm close enough to touch the orb. I take a deep breath and reach in. With a flash of light I feel a pain so powerful I feel like my arm is about to disintegrate. I cried out in pain but those around me new the rules, if I pull my hand out I die.

With each second a new pain, with each minute the idea of dying sounded better and better. I'm trying to look away but something about the bright light is, is keeping me from looking away, watching it shrink is the only thing keeping me sane, granted that the smaller it's getting, the more painful it's getting.

What the, my hand, my hand is actually being forced out of the ball. I've got to keep my hand in, I mean, the thing is now only as big as a Basketball so I'm almost through, but still my arm, it's, its-

Its morning and, and I'm on the roof, exactly where I was sitting last night. A dream, I hate dreams, but, Duel Monsters aren't real but- my arm; it's, it's shaking, same one I stuck in the light ball and it's shaking. It's shaking and I can't get it to stop, but why?

…

This sucks, I've got my hands in my pockets but guess what my right hand is still shak-

What the, there's a group of boys and girls crowded in front of my room.

"Can I help any of you?"

Instinctually they all turn their heads towards me and I can hear whispers in the crowd. Plus there's a short old man pushing through the crowd.

"Mr. Rhodes, may I ask where you were last night?" Said the old man, aka Head Master Dewint. I want to say Bryant Park but instead I should go with.

"I fell asleep on the roof last night; I go there sometimes to think."

"Yes well perhaps you should come over here."

I walked past the small Moshe pit and ended at my door way, shocked at what I'm seeing.

My entire room is a mess, even more than usual. My desk has been turned over; my bare mattress is on the floor, with all the sheets around it. The few clothes I have are all on the floor and my Duel Board is lying on its side.

"What the hell happened?"

"We were hoping you could tell us."

"I haven't the faintest idea who would do this." "Yes, well, we'll leave you to yourself. Ok all students the shows over."

That was quick. Oh god, what's going on here? My hands shaking, I'm dreaming about talking cards, there- what's that? There's something sticking out by my closet door… it's a letter and it has my name on it.

_"Dear Dragon Boy, meet me at Rat Rock in Central Park at Noon, come alone and bring your deck with you."_

…

Even though it's probably a bad idea I've changed into jeans, a white t-shirt, black leather jacket, and dog tags, and I'm on my Duel Board.

Well here I am; one of the oldest rock formations in the city. There isn't a person anywhere near here, except one.

"Why'd you trash my room?"

"Why'd you steal my opponent?"

Wait a minute it's the same stone cold girl from yesterday only this time, she traded in her oversized school uniform for a denim jacket, jeans and a blue t-shirt, that's the same ice cold blue as her eyes.

"What do you mean I stole your opponent, it was completely random and you snuck in anyways!" "Your wrong Scott Truman is a powerful man, he was looking for someone with equal power, that's why I was sent here but for some reason he chose you instead of someone as powerful as me and I want to find out why!"

She's angry, plus she's just turned on her Duel Disk which leaves me with only one option.

"Bring it!"

Mystery Girl

"I summon Draw Fox in ATK Mode" (ATK: 0/DEF: 0).

Chase

"That's it?"

She's stared glaring angrily at me which I assumes meant yes.

"Ok then, I summon Elemental Hero Voltic in ATK Mode (ATK: 1000/DEF: 1500) Now Attack, Voltic Thunder!"

"Sorry, but when Draw Fox is destroyed by battle not only do I not take battle damage but I get to draw2 cards."

I can tell that this is part of her strategy, but still she's showing only one emotion, anger.

"I end my turn."

Mystery Girl

"I summon Fox warrior in ATK Mode (ATK: 900/DEF: 1100) now destroy his Voltic with Fox Xiaolin!"

"Check the numbers your Warrior's 100 points to low."

"Not quite."

Voltic's lightning proved feudal at destroying the tall yellow fox as it went in for the kill.

"When Fox Warrior attacks she gains 1000 attack points. (4000-3100) I set one card face down and end my turn."

Chase

"My Turn, I summon Elemental Hero Stratos in ATK Mode (ATK: 1800/DEF: 300) next I activate his special ability allowing me to add 1 elemental hero from my deck to my hand."

Ok seriously it's like dueling a computer; This girl doesn't change her expression and her duel disk, it's grey and everything is covered by a sheet of metal that has a blinking antenna on the top, the only exposed parts are the slot she put her deck in, her graveyard, and her summon blade. I've never seen anything like it. My duel disk is the school model, which is just the standard duel disk, in gold and black.

"Now Stratos attack Fox Warrior with Stratosphere Storm!"

"Not quite I activate my trap card; Kunai with Chain, which switches your giant blue fan into defense mode and gives Fox Warrior 500 ATK points. (ATK: 900-1400)"

"I set one card face down and it's back to you."

Mystery Girl

I draw and summon Tiny Fox in ATK mode (ATK: 440/DEF: 1100) now destroy his Stratos. Oh yeah and guess what when my fox destroys a monster that monster is taken out of play instead of being sent to the graveyard."

Shit, looks like I've got to put Stratos in my jacket pock- I just figured out how I'm going to win this. Now Fox Warrior attack him directly with chain throw! I set one card face down and end my turn." (3100-700)

Kevin

"I Draw, I play Red Medicine which gives me 500 Life points (Kevin's Life points 700-1200) next I summon Turbo Synchron (Level: 1/ATK: 100/DEF: 500) in ATK mode next I activate the trap card Limit Reverse to bring back an old friend; Welcome back Voltic. Now Turbo Synchron attack Fox Warrior with Turbo speed Fist!"

"What are you doing?"

"Watch closely because now Fox Warrior goes into Defense mode (Kevin's Life points 1200- 200) now thanks to Turbo Synchron's effect I can special summon The Elemental Hero Avian (Level: 3/ATK: 1000/DEF: 1000) from my hand in attack mode, now Voltic attack Tiny Fox, Voltic Thunder! (MG Life Points 4000-3440) Now another guest's coming back Elemental Hero Stratos in Attack Mode, next I activate his other special ability, since I have 2 other Hero's on the field he can destroy both your Kunai with Chain and your face down!" The card was Spell Binding circle which could have caused me a lot of trouble.

"Now that my attacks are over I think I'll show you something new; Turbo Synchron do your thing!"

Turbo Synchron revved up his engines and shot like a bullet, when he stopped he turned in to a green circular finish line and a dematerialized Voltic and Avian flew threw (1+3+4=8)

"You want my Dragon; you got my Dragon, I Synchro Summon Stardust Dragon!"(ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000) Stardust Shined from high in the sky waiting for my command to attack.

"I set 2 cards face down, and call it a turn."

Mystery Girl

"You tricked me from turn one, didn't you!"  
>"Something like that."<p>

"My turn, Draw, it's here, I drew what I need to win."

She says this so quietly that I can barely hear her  
>"And what may I ask is that?"<p>

"You'll see but first I need to destroy your Stratos." "Not happening! I activate the trap card Pixie Ring, now you can't choose Stratos as an attack target, and also I activate one of my favorites Battle Mania! Now your Fox Warrior has to attack so guess what that means!"

The tall fox leaped into battle hoping to destroy the powerful dragon (ATK: 900-1900).

"Now StarDust Dragon Cosmic Flare!" (MG Life Points 3440- 2840)!"

"The games mine, next turn all I have to do is have Stardust Dragon and Elemental Hero Stratos attack her direct-

Suddenly I've been knocked to the ground but from what I don't know.

"What was that?"

Did I just see the air pulsate?

"What's going on here?"

There are 2 more and I think they're coming from the girl, and it looks like black rays of energy are being emitted from the girl's body as well.

"Quick have us attack," says Stratos, "that girl isn't normal, Fox Warrior must have been sealing this power away and now we've let it out."

The pulsations are now more frequent and more violent with no sign of them stop- something's got me by the leg, it, it looks almost like a shadow! A shadow is pulling me by the leg towards the girl!

Chase

"Quick Stardust Dragon, Stratos attack!"

The 2 monsters are going after the girl, afraid to hurt her, and afraid of what else would come out of her. The Shadows then leapt up, faster than any eye could follow, and grabbed the 2 monsters, tightening there grip, squeezing with a desire to make sure there victims never saw light again. I tried to grab the tentacle but felt my hand go right threw it however my leg still remained trapped. Suddenly more rays of shadow came up and went around my neck, preparing for the kill. As I looked into the tentacle I saw 1000 horrible things, some I had experienced, some I had seen, and some from my worst nightmares. I looked down at the girl who was staring straight at me with the smile of a Demon, licking her lips at the sight of me gasping for air. Oh god I don't know-

"Togda ozornaja lisy vernulis' v noru."

With that I hit the ground, my monsters have vanished, and my opponent now looks like she's… died standing. Her pale skin looks even paler, her hair pin had flown away during her ",episode," leaving what has now turned into a grayish, red color that's over her face, behind which is a face that shows a mind of pure emptiness.

"What the hell was that?"

"Don't worry boy since you would have won last turn anyways let's just say you won."

"A little girl nearly destroyed Central Park and you expect me to just except it!" It was a statement not a question.

The new person in front of me appears to stand at nearly 7 feet tall with long curly black hair that reaches the bottom of her skirt. She's wearing a pair of black round sun glasses that covers a face that appears to be wearing no makeup what so ever and the more I look at her the worse a feeling I get, in other words I feel like a field mouse in front of a tree branch that looks an awful lot like a snake waiting for the right moment to strike.

She reaches into the chest pocket of her suit and pulls out a card which she tosses to me.

"Take this card as an apologize, reward, whatever you want to call it, for entertaining our little Abby, and for keeping your mouth shut."

This is impossible, this card can't exist and all this. "A pleasure meeting you, and an excellent comeback Mr. Rhodes let's not run into each other again," she says as they walk away.

"No way, this isn't over!"

I've got to hurry there almost out of sight.

There gone, all they did was turn behind a tree and there, they're gone.

There's nothing here except for the debris left by the duel, except… there's something in the ground where she was standing.

It's a small key chain, it's says New York City and there's a small logo under it, it looks familiar but I can't remember where it's from.

…Oh crap I hear some people coming and all I need is for people to think I did this.

Winner: Kevin Loser: Abby

…

As Chase walked back to the school an aging man watched him. Rhodes was obviously shaken up and the man had a bad feeling why. With that he took a cell phone out of his pocket, dialed a number, took one last look at the boy and said.

"Arthur it's me, and it's time."

Next time: Chapter 3-To the Tops

I pushed down on the accelerator as fast as I could. Even though going to fast could over heat the board the alternative was worse. Let Sector security catch me and get expelled, lose my chance at figuring all this out, and probably my chance of just about anything else.


	3. 03 To The Tops

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

By Kevin Jones

Turn 3-To the Tops

I've got to take a deep breath and calm down… it's not working.

I'm in the back of a UPS truck; with my only company being some large crates by the door; I don't-

What the, we've stopped.

I quickly but quietly run to the back of the truck like I was told and I've got 1 ear open so I know when I'm out of the danger zone.

"Where's the usual guy?"

A heavy voice from the outside said, I wonder if it's someone who will look inside the truck if he feels something is off with my "escort's" story and if so, if he's big enough to be able to throw the crate and me with it.

"Caught the flu," Said the driver, he said it loud enough for the whole city to hear.

"Don't take this the wrong way but I think I'll take a look inside, we've had a lot of trespassers sneaking in threw stolen trucks like this."

Oh crap, I can hear his heavy footsteps banging down and shaking the whole truck as he gets closer and closer.

I can hear his deep, heavy breathing; he can't be more than a few inches away from me.

"There anybody in here, no, fine then."

Once again I hear loud heavy footsteps, this time leaving the truck.

"As far as I'm concerned everything checks out, you can go ahead."

I can hear a beep coming from outside the truck… sounds like the large brown truck is back on its course heading up towards the Tops district.

…

About an hour passed since the encounter with, what I guess was a guard. It's been a quiet hour but the truck has stopped and the driver is now looking at me.

"It's time."

"I know, and I'm ready."

…

Perhaps I should start from the beginning, or at least sum up the beginning. This whole thing started when a true American hero, or at least as far as I'm concerned, Scott Truman and I duked it out in a duel. It was close but he got the better of me, and within several hours I heard a voice that sounded like a combination of a little kid and a lizard.

That night it was revealed to me that apparently this game is real and people like me "have a power that separates you from most of society" I then had to stick my hand in an orb of light and then found my dorm room trashed; the culprit then challenged me to a duel.

Turns out, it's a creepy little girl who didn't like to lose, however unlike most sore losers, when she loses she then proceeds to destroy Central Park. I then found a small odd looking key chain that was flinged from her pocket during the duel.

When I got back to the school I went into my room, put my mattress back on the frame and tried to get some sleep.

When that didn't work I moved my hand over and turned on the radio next to my bed.

I played with the dial looking for something to listen to till I eventually settled on some late night talk show from Los Angeles.

According to the host it was 1:30. I did the math in my head and figured it must be around 4:30 here in New York.

I didn't feel tired in the least; I wasn't quite sure what to think either. I laid there barely listening to the show thinking about just how much I didn't know. When the show ended at about 2, 5 Eastern Time, They started playing some old pop song by some washed up loser named Justin Bieber when I started to hear humming.

It wasn't static from the radio, it wasn't even from the radio, and it sounded like it was coming from the other end of the bed. I slowly moved my hand by the floor and felt around for a wrench that was on the floor. After everything that happened I wasn't taking any chances.

I slowly inched over to the other end of the bed making sure that, other then the radio, all I could hear was the humming.

It was too dark for me to see what it was so I took a deep breath and swung down with everything I had in me, I fell off the bed and landed face first on the ground.

"What the hell." I said under my breath.

I moved my hand up and down until I found the light switch; I flicked it on and saw the strangest thing yet. There right in front of me was a 4 foot tall, white dragon. It had a long tail, big head that if you looked at it from the top appeared it the shape of triangle. Because of this it had a pointed snout and a horn coming out of the back of its head with 2 more from the sides of its head for a total of 3 horns. Then it hit me. Before it could say anything I pulled out my deck, searched, and there it was both the dragon in front of me and the dragon on the card were the same.

"You, you're Debris Dragon." With its long right claw it continued to rub its head where the wrench hit it.

"That's my species name, my names Aero."

"Aero?"

"It's a family name it's short for Sharp Aero but everyone just calls me Aero."

There was no doubt, the voice sounded like an 8 year olds but with a bit of reptilian in it, almost like an accent.

"Why'd you hit me with a wrench?" He said with an obvious wine in his voice.

"Why did I, why is there a 4 foot tall dragon in my room!"

"Hey, hey, hey I was assigned to you."

"Wait you were assigned to me, what that's supposed to mean!"

"Simple all duelists who go through inclaim get assigned a Spirit Partner."

"Fine, alright fine, I can see where that makes sense but why did I get you and not one of my Elemental hero's?"

"What's wrong with me?"  
>He sounded like that question got on his nerves.<p>

"Well for starters, I only used you once and second wouldn't someone like Voltic or Stratos make more sense instead of tiny dragon who can't even handle a wrench?"

"Hey! First of all, that hurt, second, I'm no push over and third, I'm here because I can fade in out and out of sight easily!"

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"Simple right now you can see and touch me right, well, when there are other people in the room only you can see me and if anyone is about to touch me they'll go right threw me."

I was about to say something else when I heard a heavy knock on the door.

"Mr. Rhodes, the police are here to see you," the voice sounded like Principal Dewint.

"Oh crap." Aero now fully on his feet jumped under the bed.

"I thought you said you would turn invisible!" I quietly yelled.

"That's what they told me but I don't want to find out what happens if their wrong."

I rolled my eyes and went to the door.

Outside were 2 cops and in the middle was Head Master Dewint.

"Good Morning Mr. Rhodes, what are you doing up?" Said the old man, he was trying to remain calm.

"Bad dream woke me up- probably something I ate."

"Yes well this is Detective Sadusky and Detective Tate," he paused for a moment, "Have you heard about the odd black clouds that showed up in central park yesterday."

I put on a blank stare to try and hide my sudden fear.

"Yeah on the news why?"

"We have reason to believe that you were in the area of central park when this, incidence was reported." Said Tate, there was something familiar about her, and she gave me the same get away feeling that I had while I was in the park.

"Why are you guy's asking me this at 5 in the morning?"

"Because they'd like to convince everyone to stay quiet before this turns into more than a story and starts a panic." We all looked to the right to find Professor Moretti, of all people, standing in front of us.

"Robert what are you doing here?"

"Me, getting up at about 4:30 on Sunday morning is a tradition."

"The man's right I've found him wandering all over the school around this time for years." Said Dewint, I was about to also agree, before Sadusky said.

"Yeah well on less you've got something useful to tell us go away."

"Actually I have something very useful to say." "Then what?"

"2 days ago I found the boy had smuggled his deck into class, since he most likely only had it with him because of the assembly you hyped everyone up about I didn't think it was right to punish him then so I to cut him a deal, he got to go to the assembly and he helped me grade papers yesterday."

"Yeah well how do we know you're not just covering for him?"

"And what reason would I have to help the boy?"

While the loud one finally had nothing to say Tate scanned the skinny man with her pair of cold blue eyes, she then turned her head and gave me the same visual inspection, she was only making me feel more nervous.

"I believe the old man," she said.

"Oh come on, how does this not seem off?"

"I've been doing this longer than you have; I know when I'm barking up the wrong the tree. Now it's almost a quarter after 5 and we've been doing this all night, now I'm done.

Sorry for disturbing you Mr. Rhodes, and until this is over it is probably best you don't leave the city."

I nodded and the 2 officers and Principle Dewint walked off leaving me and my new favorite teacher alone in the hallway.

"Why'd you do that?"

"I believe the term is thank you."

"Right, thanks but still why'd you do that?"

"Meet me by the Hamburger stand at the corner of 67th street and 3rd Avenue at noon, I will be able to tell you everything then, until then get some rest, I have a feeling you're going to have a long night.

…

"Don't fall asleep."

"If you don't shut up I'll put you to sleep, the hard way."

Don't get me wrong, I tried to get a little sleep, but come on if you had to go through what I've had to go through you probably wouldn't sleep either. Good news was Aero's yakking was keeping me awake.

"What do you think he meant by "I have a feeling you're going to have a long night"?"

"I don't know yet, now shut up were here."

"I don't see him."

I stayed quiet, looked around and didn't see him either.

"Here's your Hamburger kid," said the vendor.

"I didn't ask for one."

"Trust me on this, now would you like Ketchup or Mustard."

I could tell the tall young, green eyed vendor had rehearsed this, which brought up the interesting questions of why this guy rehearsed this order, who told him to rehearse this and how do I fit into all this, until I get my answers I have to give one myself.

"Ketchup."

The young vender moved the burger down slowly, looking every few seconds at me to make sure I was watching. When he pulled off the bun I noticed 2 things, A this was not a real Burger and B, there was a note actually glued to the burger and it read.

"_Sit on the bench until 12:30; which is when I should get there."_

Not sure what to think of all this I took my, now smothered in Ketchup, fake burger and sat down on the bench for a good 20 minutes before a man wearing dark sunglasses, a brown fedora, jeans and wearing a tan jacket zipped all the way up sat down next to me.

He pulled a vibrating cell phone out of his pocket and started speaking in Spanish.

The disguise was ridicules, the Spanish sucked, and his accent and mustache were unmistakable.

"Professor Moretti, it's ok I'm not being followed." Then he looked at me with a confused look and said.

"Santo queue me hand confounded con okra persona."

I rolled my eyes cause he was actually suppose to say Santo que me han confundido con otra persona, which means I am sorry you have me mistaken for someone else.

Knowing that I wasn't going to get out of this using common sense I decided to play along until I returned to intelligent land.

"Profesor Moretti su bien que no estoy siendo seguido." He continued talking to me while making it look like he was talking on a cell phone in Spanish for about 10 minutes. In English we basically said.

"Chase It is not worth taking a chance, for now we speak in Spanish."

"Professor what's going on here?"

"You have gotten yourself in the middle of a conspiracy that involves the takeover of the entire world."

Oh Christ, I thought, but I said, "How's that?"

"That girl you dueled yesterday, and yes I know all about that is a member of a group called SMERSH."

"Wait, wasn't that the name of the bad guys in From Russia with Love?"

He chuckled and responded with. "They were also the most mysterious branch of the Soviet Union. They over saw the deaths of many spies as well as people of interest. When the Soviet Union ended back in 1991 they vanished."

"Probably cause the new the Russian government didn't want people's tax dollars going to a group of murders."

He ignored this and went on. "I, as well as the young man who gave you the burger, belong to a group called the Silver Cloak-"

"I know." He looked at me with genuine confusion this time.

"That silver pin you ware has been the symbol of the, supposedly, secret conspiracy examination group known as the Silver Cloak. You guys have been examining groups in this city for Decades; making sure they aren't hiding anything that dangerous, honestly I always thought of you guys as a joke, but apparently you guys may have actually found something."

"Yes well we know little else, which is why we've decided to help you get your answer in exchange for getting information on SMERSH."

"What makes you think I'll help you, scratch that, what makes you think I care and that I don't just think you're a crazy old Man?"

He chuckled and said. "Because I know you, you're a miserable unhappy young man who only finds Happiness in dueling, why do you think that is?"

"I've got a thing for card games?" I said this sarcastically. "Not really, your to intelligent for this place and the only thing that interests you is puzzles, and now you've got one that makes every other thing else in your life seem mediocre and you can't think of anything else can you."

I looked away, trying to pretend there was no truth in that statement.

"Tell you what, when you're willing to admit to yourself that you want nothing more than an answer to this riddle meet me by the ferry station that connects Secaucus to Manhattan at 4:00 o clock. If you come I'll get you to the Tops."

"How does the Tops District fit into all this?"  
>"If you show up later I'll explain."<p>

If you're confused about what the Tops are allow me to explain. Now a day's most cities are divided into 3 sections depending on social class.

First is what's called a Satellite sector, that's where all of the people who society deems as "Trash" get sent.

Next there's the actual city where all the "normal people" can be found and finally there's the Top's sector.

Talk to anyone at Dewint and most likely they live in, basically, a house on top of a building. It's essentially the way the rich keep themselves from having to deal with reality so needless to say I have never been nor have any desire to go to the Tops, well until now.

…

"Ahh, I knew you couldn't resist." SaidMoretti, I felt awkward for 2 reasons. 1, he knew I'd show up and the fact that he seemed to know about everything that has happened up to this point made me feel like a puppet and 2 the street vendor from earlier was standing next to him in a UPS uniform.

"Sorry I didn't get to introduce myself before, I'm Arnold." He extended his arm, I lifted mine and when I looked him straight in the eye he froze up and uttered a small yelp. Moretti took a deep breath and stepped towards an open UPS truck.

"All things set aside here's the plan; Arnold over here has been given a uniform and a fake Name tag. You will hide here in the back of this truck behind this crate, in one of the entrance tunnels you'll find a small drop that goes about 4 feet, hide there until about Midnight, then a guy we know will hack the security computer and freeze all the cameras. It probably won't take more than 10 minutes before security realizes what has happened so don't get off you're Duel Board for anything understand?"

"I got it; don't worry but one question, if something goes wrong what's keeping me from being sent to the Facility?"

Moretti got silent, Arnold got a worried look on his face and Aero just kept looking back at the 3 of us, it was safe to say that the little dragon didn't fully understand the situation.

After that I stepped into the truck and sat myself with my Duel Board laid across my legs behind a crate as the back of the truck automatically closed.

It took about 20 minutes before we made it to the entrance, then another 20 before we reached the small drop.

…

The drop is big enough for me to squat behind but I don't think I'll be able to last down here anymore then I have to.

As I look Arnold just seems to be staring at me.

"Now would be a good time for you to leave."  
>"Right, and good luck, and remember that hot dog stand is my day job so if you need any help you can probably find me there."<br>"I'll remember that; now get out of here before you get us both caught."

He's now dashing towards the truck. He quickly turns the truck back on and is now driving off.

"I'm still not sure what exactly anything that's happened has to do with the Tops, well I don't believe what Moretti thinks this whole thing relates to the Tops. According to him there are people here in the Tops who are planning to take over the world using genetically modified children. Bear in mind I think this is pure bull shit, but the symbol on the key chain is the same as the logo you would see as you enter the Tops so I might be able to find some kind of a clue here.

…

"Chase, wake up chase your Duel Disk is blinking."

I guess I was able to fall asleep after all, and from the looks of it Aero's right, my disk is blinking.

"I guess they figured out a way to give me a sign."

I throw my Duel Board up and proceed to jump over onto the road. I connect my Wrist Dealer with my Disk, attach my disk to the cord which is attached to the board and with that I get on.

"Chase, are you sure about this?"

"Not really."

…

We've been riding around for about several minutes, or in Aero's case flew around for several minutes, person-

"Chase, where are we going?"

I pull the key chain out of my pocket.

"We need to figure out where 22Z north is."

"Well where's that?"

"Don't know, I haven't seen a single marker to tell us if were even still in Manhattan."

"Wait a minute then how do we get out of here?"

"We look for something we haven't seen yet."

"Sector Security, Manhattan Branch, Chase Rhodes pull over!"

What the hell? Wait a minute, I know that Security Agent with the Runner!

"Detective Sadusky!"

"Bingo! Like Tate said, give you a little time and you'll come straight here."

"What would make her think that?"

"Forget that! We got a go faster before he catches us," said Aero, obviously he's panicking.

I'm pushing down on the accelerator as fast as I can. Even though going to fast could over heat the board the alternative is worse. Let Sector security catch me and get expelled, lose my chance at figuring all this out, and probably my chance of just about anything else.

"So you'd rather run, fine, I'll take care of that."

"Duel mode on."

That was my disk just now. Oh crap, I've heard rumors that back when Turbo Dueling started Sector Security developed a computer virus that could hack a Duel Disk and force you into a Duel with the idea that your runner or board would stop upon losing or not being able to duel.

"Well Mr. Rhodes, you've proven you can lie and sneak past Security, let's see if you can Duel!"

"Chase what do we do, if you lose we're going to the Facility!"

I pick up my hand and place it over my deck. "Then I won't lose."

Sadusky

Chase SPC: 0 Sadusky SPC: 0

"Alright then, non-criminals first, I summon Assault Dog in Attack mode. (ATK: 1200/DEF: 800) Next I'll set one card facedown and end my turn."

Chase

Chase SPC: 01 Sadusky SPC: 01

"Oh I can just imagine that thing using me as a chew toy!"

"Debris Dragon, shut up!"

"I set one monster and one card face down and end my turn!"

Sadusky

Chase SPC: 02 Sadusky SPC: 02

"Oh don't tell me I have you on the ropes already, Now Assault Dog attack!"

The large snarling K-9 ran towards the facedown card, as the monster materialized the dog tried to take a bite, take a bite of concrete that is.

"What the hell!" He said. (4000-3200)

"Oh don't tell me you fell for the old set a powerful defender as bait for a relatively weak attacker." I mocked while My Elemental Hero Clayman resumed his defender stance (ATK: 800/DEF: 2000).

Chase

Chase SPC: 03 Sadusky SPC: 03

"Alright then I summon Elemental Hero Lady Heat in Attack Mode, (ATK: 1300/DEF: 1000) now attack, Heat kick!" (3200-3100)

As one dog fell to the ground, there's another one jumping onto the field.

"Oh my, I guess you didn't know when Assault Dog is destroyed by battle I can special summon another one straight from my deck."

"I'll set one card facedown and call it a turn."

With that a large ball of fire came out of Lady Heat's crown and went right through Sadusky.

"What the hell was that?"

"Oh my I guess you didn't know when I end my turn Lady Heat inflicts 200 points of direct damage for each Hero I control.

(3100-2700)

Sadusky

Chase SPC: 04 Sadusky SPC: 04

"Annoying little criminal aren't you. Now I tribute Assault Dog in order to Advance summon Handcuffs Dragon (ATK: 1800/DEF: 1800)."

A sickly serpent with a giant metal cuff where its mouth should have been is now on the field, and it's heading straight for Lady Heat.

"Now Handcuffs Dragon attack the little fire princess, dragon lock!"

"Oh no you don't I activate the trap card Scrap Iron Scarecrow!"

"And I Counter with a trap called Wiretap now your Scarecrow, gets shuffled back into your deck!"

Damn it, all I can do is watch helplessly as my Hero is crushed by his dragon (4000-3500).

Chase

Chase SPC: 05 Sadusky SPC: 05

Come on Deck give me something… I think I've got something.

"I summon Shield Warrior (ATK: 800/DEF: 1600) in Defense Mode! Next I set one card Face down and that's it!"

Sadusky

Chase SPC: 06 Sadusky SPC: 06

"Humph, looks like now you're playing Defense, now Handcuffs Dragon destroy his warrior!"

That's right; just keep doing what I need you to.

"Next I remove 4 of my speed counters to inflict 800 points of damage to you for every speed spell in my hand and guess what; I have 2 (3500-1900).

Even though Sadusky's large grey runner is now going slower than mine, I still won't be able to get away till I win.

Chase

Chase SPC: 07 Sadusky SPC: 03

"Alright then I got the green light! I summon Turbo Synchron, (Level: 1/ATK: 100/DEF: 500) now Turbo Synchron attack, Turbo Speed fist!"

"Didn't they teach you anything at that school, 100 can't destroy-"

"True but thanks to his effect Turbo Synchron switches your Dragon in to defense mode and I can special summon a monster whose ATK points are less than the damage I take! (1900-200) Next I summon Kuriboh (Level: 1/ATK: 300/DEF: 200) in attack mode!"

"You summoned a puff ball with wings, sorry kid but you're still screwed, no matter how many puff balls you summon!"

"Don't you dare doubt the power of my monsters especially because I activate Urgent Tuning!"

"Uh oh I have a bad feeling about this."

"You should because thanks to Urgent Tuning I can Synchro Summon during the battle phase, so guess what that means!"

Turbo Synchron revved up his engines and shot like a bullet, when he stopped he turned in to a green circular finish line and a dematerialized, Kuriboh and Clayman flew threw and with a burst of light, (1+1+4=6) I synchro summon Turbo Warrior in ATK mode!" (ATK: 2500/DEF: 1500)

"Next I activate the trap card Ebon Arrow!"

"Wha, what's that do?"

"Simple, now Turbo Warrior loses 500 ATK points till the end phase,(ATK: 2500-2000) but now you're going to lose life points equal to the difference between their attack and defense, Turbo Warrior Axle Slash!"

The dragon looked up only to find itself too late to save itself. (2700-2500)

"Also thanks to Ebon Arrow's effect you lose life points equal to Handcuffs Dragon's original Defense points (2400-700)! Next I set one card facedown and its back to you. (2000-2500)

Sadusky

Chase SPC: 08 Sadusky SPC: 04

"I refuse to lose to this criminal!"  
>I don't have time to respond to that, I can tell my duel board is close to overheating. I need to win on the next turn or the board might literally blow up.<p>

"Looks like I won't lose after all."

Oh crap, what does he means by that?

"I send a level 3, a level 4, and another level 4 to the graveyard in order to special summon Montage Dragon!" Oh crap, giant, purple, 3 headed dragon, not good.

"And guess what Montage Dragons ATK points are the combined level of all 3 monsters I just discarded times 300, (ATK: 3300/DEF: 0), next I activate the effect of the Handcuffs Dragon in my graveyard, equipping him to Turbo Warrior and lowering his ATK points by 1800, now Montage Dragon attack with Power Collage!"

The giant, purple Dragon fired a multi-colored beam of energy that would incinerate anything, well almost anything. (200-200)

"What the Hell?"

"Simple, for starters Turbo Warrior isn't affected by the effects of level 6 or lower monsters, like your deformed lizard. Second, I took my shield Warrior from before out of play making Turbo Warrior indestructible and third I activated my Spirit Force trap card which sets all my battle damage to 0."

He's got a frightened look on his face which tells me that he's finally figured it out.

"You, you had this planned from turn 1, didn't you?" "Took you long enough, I've dealt with Sector Security before, I know all about Assault Dog, Handcuffs Dragon, Wire tap, and Montage Dragon, I knew all your moves before you even made them and I believe it's time for the final move."

Chase

Chase SPC: 09 Sadusky SPC: 05

"Now then because I have 9 speed counters I can activate the speed spell Synchro Coat, now because you control a monster that shares a type with a Synchro monster I have in my Extra Deck I can send it to the graveyard and have Montage Dragon count as a Synchro monster till the end phase."

Sadusky's watching helplessly as my Stardust Dragon appears and is now flying towards Montage Dragon, bursting into a white veil around its victim.

"I send Stardust Dragon to the graveyard, now Montage Dragon counts as a Synchro Monster and guess what, when Turbo Warrior attacks a level 6 or higher Synchro Monster that Monsters attack points are halved (3300-1650). Now Turbo Warrior Axle Slash."

The 2 monsters are heading straight for each other. Montage fires bursts of energy from each of its 3 heads but Turbo Warrior's dodging every blast with true grace, ending it by slashing threw all 3 necks at once. (700-0)

Winner: Chase Loser: Sadusky

"See you never!"

Alright, I've beaten this guy, which means his Runner's shut down, plus I can see an exit up ahead which means- what the hell? I think I just heard Sadusky scream.

I know I shouldn't but I have to glance-

"Wait your Runner stopped how is it going so fast?"

Sadusky's Runner is now going faster than before, but his face, it almost, it almost looks like he's dead and he's, he's heading straight for me.

I've got to speed up, even though by this point I can feel the heat radiating off my board as its systems begin to overheat. I know the entire board might explode if I keep this up but he's getting closer and closer, all I need to do is make it to the exit.

I bite my lip as I make a sharp turn right and… up I go.

I suddenly find myself outside and in the air in front of a large Tops building with a swimming pool in the front.

As I start to come down, I hear a familiar sound. It's Sadusky and he's, he's driving his Runner into the air as well. He's now close enough to touch me, but he's missed my arm and now has the cord connecting my disk to my board in his hand.

"No let go!"

The Boards exploded!

Sadusky's screaming as his arm catches on fire. He's now flying over the side of the building, as I, oh no I'm heading straight for the pool!

I've got to hold my breath and think of something because I can't swim.

Ah! I've hit the bottom and I can't think a clear thought as I slowly lose oxygen. My back's hurting, I can't breathe, my legs and right arm are burnt, and, no way, there's just no way, there's, there's just no way, but in front of me, I think I see an Angel.

Next time: Turn 04-The Angel and the Demon

The young boy is now trying to run away, but he finds himself being pulled towards the girl by a large appendage like shadow. He's screaming for help as he gets closer and closer and closer, and with that the young boy is gone.


	4. 04 The Angel and the Demon

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

By Kevin Jones

Turn 4-The Angel and the Demon

I'm not awake… or at least I don't I don't I am. My eyes are closed and for the first time in 3 days I feel calm. Am I dead… No, I can't be… I can feel a light breeze, and I think I can hear a wind chime from behind me. I lift my arm, only to find something is holding it tightly in place and I also hear a faint metal rattling next to my hand, with this information and my all of a sudden calm feeling, there's only possible conclusion, whoever, or whatever, saved me from the pool has drugged me and hand handcuffed me.

When I try opening my eyes, the bright light forces me to close them; I try this 2 or 3 times before my new settings begin to take shape. The walls are a tan color and I can tell the room is big; I even think I can see an upstairs which is odd considering I'm probably in an apartment… That's it, I remember what happened. I had just beaten that Sadusky guy when he all of sudden was able to turn his runner back on and come after me, I then flew out of a tunnel and he was able to catch up to me, then almost as if he was possessed or something he grabbed my duel board and blew it up, then I fell into a pool, after that I slowly lost consciousness, via drowning, and what looked like an angel was coming for me. There's something else in this room. Something that appears to be rather tall but skinny, yeah I'm sure of it, it's a person, most likely, my angel.

"So you're alive after all, Mr. Chase Rhodes."

Instead of having, brown hair, porcelain skin, a long white gone, a golden headband, and wings like something you'd see in church this angel has thick long red hair that goes half way down her back, pale skin, pink pajamas and no wings. As my eyes clear further I can notice she has big light green eyes, and freckles on her cheeks.

"How do you know my name?"

"That's what it says on your driver's license."

She picks up a soggy wallet from the Mahogany hutch she is leaning against.

"You might want to get a new one of these." "Where am I?"

"Don't you think you should say Thank you, after all I did just save your life."

"Fine, thank you, where am I?"

"You're Mother never taught you manners did she?"

"Actually she did, but she also taught me that when I've been drugged, handcuffed, and have my wallet stolen, always figure out where I am and who my captor is."

"You must have one hell of a Mother, but I guess you're right, my name is Vanessa Aaronson." "Pleasure, now where am I?"

"Hey I answered your question, now you've got to answer one of mine."

"What do you think this is a game?"

"You're the one wearing the Duel Disk."

Oh shit my cards… good there alright. Since I had fallen into the pool theoretically my cards should be ruined, but from what I can see my emergency system appears to have kicked in. Basically in the event anything out of the ordinary happens a steel cover places itself around my deck protecting it and keeping its contents safe. At that moment we both hear 2 faint growling sounds. Vanessa looks down, touches her belly and chuckles.

"I guess neither of us has eaten breakfast yet." "You think."

"Smart Ass aren't you, tell you what, I'm going to take a quick shower and get dressed, and then once you've had a little time to starve maybe you'll be more willing to "play"."

I lift my handcuffed arm.

"That's for my own protection."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"In about 5 minutes I'm going to be naked in the shower, don't get any funny ideas and in case you do, well you're hand cuffed to a stair well."

Vanessa is now walking over to what appears to be an open liquor cabinet, explaining where my feeling of calmness came from; she picks up a T.V. remote sitting next to the cabinet and throws it to me.

"Would you mind turning on the news and listening to the weather report, I don't like the looks of the clouds outside."

As she turns around to walk out I feel the back of my head, there is an orange sized bump where my head had hit the bottom of the pool. As I look outside threw an open patio door I can see my helmet, nestled between a plant and a lounge chair. It must have fallen off when Sadusky pulled me- I wonder what happened to Sadusky I hope-

"Oh my god, Chase I'm so glad you're alive."

Oh crap Aero's yelling is making my ears ring, feels like the booze this girl gave me to take the edge off the pain is starting to wear off.

"Where have you been?" I ask.

"I've been looking for answers." He answers.

I shoot the little white dragon a look and suddenly he doesn't seem so proud.

"Fine I hid on the roof for a few hours, but when the sun came up I went snooping around this place.

"What did you find?"

"Well for starters she's not the tidiest person ever, she's got all her clothes and stuff all over the floor. To be perfectly honest she makes you look like a neat freak; which reminds me, why is there food hidden in your dorm room?"

"Stay focused."

"I am focused."

"Prove it."

"Fine, her name is Vanessa Aaronson; she's the only daughter of Richard and Harriet Balaban, the owners of the world famous fashion company Blue Sky fashions."

"There's your first mistake, her name is Aaronson, not Balaban.

"Richard Balaban is her Step Father, when I was searching her room I found a picture of her when she was younger. The man next to her is not the same man as on any other picture in this place."

"Fair enough, but what does she have to do with me."

"What do you mean?"

"She's treating me like a house guest or something. For all she knows I could be murderer."

"Maybe she thinks your cute or something."  
>"Why on earth would she think that?"<br>"I don't know. From what I know about the way humans think you'd be considered good looking if you weren't so rude to people. All I know is that she spent the whole night just sitting in that recliner over there watching you sleep."

"Debris Dragon don't you think…" I've been cut off by a familiar name on the television, Sadusky.

"That's correct Angela; just minutes ago police were able to confirm that the body of Manhattan Sector Security agent Thomas Sadusky was found in the alley behind me a little bit after 1 a.m. late last night. Eyewitnesses say they heard a man screaming, followed by an explosion and a large fire. Fire fighters were able to put the blaze out quickly but found a crushed, partially melted Security Runner, with Detective Sadusky's remains inches away. Now these have been the only details Sector Security has released, but we will update you as we find them out."

I've stopped paying attention now, I lean my head back, not caring about the bump, I turn my head towards Debris Dragon who's just staring at the T.V., I can tell he's just realizing now what I've gotten myself into. I close my eyes and start to wonder what could have possibly have caused that man to go crazy.

…

"Hey are you ok?"

My eyes open and Vanessa is right up to my face, another inch and our noses would be touching.

"You have a tendency for falling asleep in strange places." She says jokingly.

"And you apparently have a tendency for getting up in people's faces." This I say sarcastically.

She's now out of my face and is walking over to where the cuff is connected to the stare well.

"Now I'm going to let you go." She says while pulling out a small black bottle.

"You do anything funny and I'll pepper spray you, got it."

"I get it, let me go." I say anxiously; the cuff has cut off circulation to my hand

"Ok, ok all though it was fun having you as my prisoner."

I look at her from the legs up. She is wearing dark colored jeans with a stitched in pink and blue butterfly pattern on the right pocket, a white t-shirt and her head now feature a hair clip in the back. From the looks of it, I don't think she's a bad guy but I don't think I should let my guard down just yet.

"What was your plan for me?"

"I don't know, I guess that's the fun of it."

"You're just a regular evil master mind aren't you."

"Is that a compliment or more sarcasm?"

"Take your pick."

I hear a click and stand up. Upon standing I realize she is the same height as me, maybe even an inch or 2 taller.

She places 1 soft hand on my arm; she places the other, which holds the key, and places the key in the hole. The cuff clicks open and I move my hand out of it revealing a bright red circle where the cuff was attached. Vanessa places the silver cuffs on the hutch next to her and walks over to what I assume is the dining room.

"If you want to make your stomach shut up follow me."

I walk into a small dining room that has 2 white plates with pancakes and 2 cups of what appears to be apple juice on a mahogany table. I look it all over and then at her.

"This is a nice spread."

"Thanks I'm not much of a cook which makes it a good thing I have a microwave."

"Who are you?"

She put on a perplexing look, I continue to look serious. Something isn't right here and I'm going to figure out what.

"I'm Vanessa, and you apparently hit your head harder than I thought."

"Oh no my heads fine, but way I figure it there's good chance yours isn't."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"A little odd isn't it, you don't even know me, for all you know I could be a thief or a rapist, yet you have remained completely calm, even friendly. You didn't call sector security or an ambulance, you just left me here and watched me all night, and you even made me a nice breakfast, why?"

"Wow, you're not the trusting type are you?"

I continue to look at her apathetically, even though I can see now Debris Dragon standing next to her.

"Ok the truth is I'm a big fan of adventure novels, I've got books by Ian Fleming, Robert Ludlum and guys like that all over my bedroom floor."

"It's true," remarks Debris Dragon.

"And to be perfectly honest, a part of me thinks that you're like something out of a book."

Ok it's obvious I'm a relatively calm guy but even I have things that will get me angry.

"Are you telling me that this whole time you've felt like you were in some damn book!"

In life they say there are no stupid questions, I agree, however there are stupid people and after hearing something like that I am now convinced that this girl fits into that category.

"You know most people would like the idea of being compared to say a James Bond or a Jason Bourne like character." For once she sounds serious, which means she is either too full of herself to think she's in any danger or is lacking a brain and can't comprehend the idea that a strange boy nearly drowning in her swimming pool isn't normal even in New York.

"Tell me something, are you stupid or do you just lack common sense."

She slams her hands down on the table, stands up, and walks over to me.

"Hey don't forget, if I hadn't fished you out of my pool you'd be dead!"

She's now once again only an inch away from my face.

"That's exactly my point; you just assumed I wasn't dangerous!"

"First of all I try to assume that not everybody wants to kill me, and second I checked your pockets, you didn't have any weapons."

I now have my foot on the table. I place my hand on the back heel of my sneaker and take off a piece of rubber revealing a secret compartment. I thought it would come in handy one day. I spent several hours carving out the small cavity and this is not what I thought I'd use it for. I take out a small pocket knife and open the blade.

"Pop quiz, I'm actually a thief who tried to rob this place last night, but was almost caught by security. You've got me in your house, you probably have a lot of rich stuff and you're unarmed, what do you do?"

I'm doing this to prove a point mor-

Ouch, I'm on the floor, that same soft hand from a few minutes ago in a split second felt like concrete as it hit the side of my face. She's now got my knife in her other hand.

"That answer your question, and I think I'll hold on to this for a while." She says as she helps me to my feet.

"I give up; apparently you're the stubborn kind of Irish."

"That I take as a compliment, now are you going to tell me what's going here while we eat? I think you owe me that much."

I take a deep breath, I truly have given up, she's either feisty and brainless or manipulative and arrogant. All I know is that I'm hungry and I need to decide my next move. We both sit down and I begin with, "It all started 4 days ago."

…

North of where Chase and his new "friend" are now dining several scientists and there leader prepare a test.

"Is she properly hooked up?" There tall long curly black haired boss asks.

"It appears so; using our new F.E.E.D Unit we hooked up to her spinal cord we're able to monitor her heart rate, lung functions, brain waves and Ener-D levels."

"Good," She remarks as she walks over to a microphone coming out of the large silver desk. "Ok Cecil you may begin."

Cecil

"You got it Head Mistress!"

The young boy takes a look at his hand and then at his opponent. 4 days ago this girl was given a secret mission by the Head Mistress, she then returned late the next day. The 2 shared a few classes but he didn't know her personally, all he knew was that she was pretty and when he caught a glimpse of her return on Saturday, hair in front of her face, looking sick and with an expression that looked like her brain had been erased he knew he had to do something and then when the Head Mistress said all he had to do was duel her while they monitored her vitals, he gladly volunteered, after all he was the 5th grades best duelist, well second best next to her.

"Alright than I summon Yellow Gadget in ATK mode (ATK: 1200/DEF: 1200), which lets me add a Green Gadget to my hand. Next I set one card face down and end my turn!"

Abby

Abby says nothing as she picks a card up from her deck. Cecil now looks confused, Abby was always quiet, but now she appears blank, it made him feel uneasy. She summons Draw Fox in attack Mode (ATK: 0/DEF: 0).

Cecil

"Nice try, I've seen you use that strategy a million times. You want me to attack Draw Fox, you'll take no damage and you'll also get to draw 2 cards, well guess what it ain't gonna work, cause I play Hand Destruction which makes us both send 2 cards from our hands to the graveyard and draw 2 more cards in there place, Next I tribute Yellow Gadget in order to advance summon Cyber Dragon!"

A large metal dragon is now on the field, it lets out a large roar at the young girl, but she still remains as still as a statue.

"Ok then, I activate the trap Roll Out! which allows me to equip a Union Monster from my graveyard to my dragon and I'm going with the Armored Cybern I just discarded!"

With that Cyber Dragon now has gold armor covering its midsection and a pair of long gold cannons on its back.

"Now by ditching 1000 of my dragons ATK points I can destroy your little fox. (ATK: 2100-1100) Now Cyber Dragon attack her directly, Strident Blast! (4000-2900) Not bad, hah, I set one card face down and call it a turn."

Abby

Abby draws one card and then activates it, Pot of Greed, which allows her to draw 2 cards. She summons Fox Warrior. (ATK: 900/DEF: 1100) The yellow fox appears ready to serve its master. Fox Warrior attacks, gaining 1000 ATK points via its own effect. (ATK: 900-1900)

"Oh no you don't, I activate the trap card Compulsory Evacuation Device, which returns Fox Warrior to your hand!"

Upon returning Fox Warrior to her hand Abby special summons Emergency Fox in attack mode, which can be special summoned from the owners hand in attack mode when she controls no monsters and her opponent controls 1. (ATK: 1100/DEF: 1100)

Cecil

"I draw, and it looks like this duel is almost over. I send my level 4 Green Gadget and my second level 4 Armored Cybern to the Graveyard in order to special summon from the graveyard Machina Fortress!"(ATK: 2500/DEF: 1600)

Suddenly a large lumbering blue tank with arms and a head rolled onto the field and aimed a large energy cannon at the skinny fox.

"Machina Fortress can be special summoned from my hand or graveyard by sending machine type monsters from my hand to the graveyard so long as there level equals 8 or more and if you're wondering how this bad boy got in my graveyard, well; he was the other card I ditched with Hand Destruction. Now Machina Fortress destroy her Emergency Fox and Cyber Dragon attack her directly, (2900-1500-400) my turns done, so how do you intend to get passed my ace?"

Abby

As Abby draws she feels a familiar dark happiness worm its way into her brain.

"Now once again I summon Fox Warrior in attack mode (ATK: 900/DEF: 1100)."

"Hey looks like I got you to talk after all."

"You want me to talk Blondie, well listen to this I play the equip spell Megamorph which doubles Fox Warrior's ATK points! (ATK: 900-1800) Next I play Tribute to the Doomed; I send 1 card from my hand to the Graveyard to destroy your Cyber Dragon!"

"Why Cyber Dragon?"

"Just watch now Fox Warrior attack (ATK: 1800-2800) (4000-3700)."

"Oh yeah well when Machina Fortress is sent to the graveyard through battle I can destroy one of your cards!"

"Ain't gonna happen, cause I take the effect fox I just discarded out of play to negate the activation of a card effect, next because I just destroyed you're monster I can special summon a monster beyond which you could of ever imagined!

Cecil watched in horror as the tall bipedal fox turned into something else entirely. This new creature looked right at him as it went in for a direct attack. (3700-0)

Abby: Win Cecil: Lose

"Great Duel," He said as he walked towards her. When he was about a few inches away, he was knocked to the ground by what appeared to be a pulsation in mid air.

"What was that?" He said, as he looked up he saw a devilish smile come across the girls face. He didn't know why but all he could here in his head was one word, "run." The young boy tried to run but found himself being pulled towards her by a large appendage like shadow. He screamed for help but all the adults did was watch as he got closer, and closer, and closer, and with that the young boy was gone.

The scientists now watch in horror as the young girl merely stares over the spot where a small blue eyed young boy once stood.

"You just killed your class mate Ms. Abby." The Head Mistress said threw the loud speaker.

"I know."

"Does it bother you?"

"No."

"Is there anything you'd like to say to me?"

"Yes."

"What?"

"May I go get some breakfast from the cafeteria; I haven't eaten since I dueled that Chase Rhodes kid."

"Yes you may."

As the girl walks away the woman smiles and says to herself "Eat as much you like my little Demon." Next time: Turn 05- 1 year, 7 months, 2 weeks, and 6 days.

"Mr. Rhodes I'm sorry for what she did to you but the first thing you need to know about my daughter is that she is an angel, an angel of death I'm afraid."

Top of Form


	5. 05 1 year, 7 months, 2 weeks, and

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

By Kevin Jones

Turn 5-1 year, 7 months, 2 weeks, and 6 days

"And then I woke here and all the insanity of this morning started."

For about half an hour now I've been telling a carrot color haired girl the events of the past 3 days. Honestly it's actually been helpful; I've been able to go over everything in my head and now I think I'm ready to take advantage of the situation, which is also where the weird part comes in; This girl is definitely something else. She's spent the past 30 minutes listening to every word of what I've had to say; she didn't show any reaction to a story that had parts that I still can't believe. Literally the only movements I could see from her were her breathing, her chewing and when she drank something, to be honest it was a little strange, but then again I'm in a strange situation.

"Wow I take it back, you're more like Jimmy Paz than James Bond." Finally she's out of her trance.

"Who?"

"He's a detective in a book series."

"Of course, but this is real and I need to find out what's going on here." As I say that, I push a button revealing the back chamber of my Duel Disk that holds my extra deck, if you remember the compartment in my shoe then you can probably also come to the conclusion that my duel disk is customized beyond what the school gave me. I pull out the key chain from the park and place it on the table.

"I need to know where this address is."

She now has the key chain in her hand. She examines it closely, moving it with her hands, scanning it with her eyes; I think she might sniff it next.

"Well it looks like you're on the wrong side of the city, and considering you go to Dewint Academy you are actually farther from where you're supposed to be than when you started."

"What's that suppose to mean?" With that statement she raises an eyebrow, and now has a confused look on her face.

"You've lived in this city longer than I have and you have no clue how to even tell where this place is?" She says almost as if I'm a child.

"What gives you that idea?"

"I've only lived here less than a week; why else would my parents not be here?"

"Considering everything that's gone on this morning I think that's last thing I'd think about."

"Look I'm from Seattle originally, my parents moved us out here because of their job, they had to go back for a few days and they trusted me to be here on my own for a few days."

"At the time I take it they didn't expect you to have a strange boy in their new home."

"Oh so now you chose to develop a sense of humor, well it just so happens that I start school at Dewint Academy next Monday, so it looks like you and I probably would have meat up anyways."

"Ok, let's get serious, where is this address?"

She looks at me as if I'm a child who's just given her lip or something.

"Come on," she says this as she stands up and walks into the living room, I follow. As I walk in I see her pull a folded map out of drawer, she then opens it up and lays it on a glass coffee table, as I sit down next to her I realize it's a map of Manhattan. She now has her right Index finger directly on the lower tip of Manhattan and I have a bad feeling she's going to start talking again.

"Look, we're here on White Hall St. The address on this key chain is on 81 St. that's about 13 miles away, so by car it should take you less than an hour if you stick to the roads up here on Tops."

"And since the closest thing I have to a car is resting in pieces in your swimming pool?"

"Probably all day assuming security doesn't get you first."

So I've got to figure it's a little after 10 now so if I get going now I might make it by night fall. I take a deep breath and begin to stand up.

"Well thanks for all your help I better get going, I'll see myself o-" She now has her hand on my shoulder.

"It's a good thing you fell in my pool then."

…

A few minutes have passed since we were in her living room, in that time she put on some shoes, grabbed a pink leather jacket and yanked me arm first out of her apartment to the level directly below the swimming pool, all that time babbling about something at 100 miles a minute. When we reach our destination all I can see is pitch black.

"Behold! Probably what would be heaven to a duelist like you."

I hear what sounds like a light switch being flipped and now I can see row after row of Duel Runners. Dozens of colors, dozens of models all lined up like the terracotta statues in china.

"This I did not expect." I say with complete honesty.

"I know right, but believe it or not my Step Dad has liked collecting these things for as long as I can remember, he even took greater care with them getting here than me." She chuckles while she says this, she then walks over to a red Runner.

"This is the one I suggest we take."

The Runner is the shape of a shark with a gold crest sticking out in front of the dash board.

"Let me get this straight, you're trusting me with this beautiful 2035 Runner?" Once again something here seams suspicious.

"You, hell no, if I just give it you it's probably never coming back. That's why we are going to this place together."

"Remember that story I told you, the one where a 10 year old girl nearly killed me Harry Potter style?"

"I know, I know, but here's the thing. This girl is obviously unstable, the woman who took her away knows who you are, and knew where you both were which means this woman has total control over this girl, correct?"

"What's your point?"

"My point is there are 2 wild cards here, 1 she probably didn't know about the key chain so you're most likely off her radar."

"And 2?"

"2 would be me."

"You?"

"That's right."

"Most people aren't afraid of Gingers."

"Listen if this is a trap then these people know who you are and they know you probably aren't building an army, so with me around you gain the element of surprise, plus like they say 2 heads are better than 1."

"And if they kill you."

"Not going to happen, according to your Professor these people are involved in high society, so is my family, anything happens to me there's an investigation which will bleed them out."

"You want to use yourself as bait?"

"No, but as soon as they see me they'll try and find out who I am and they'll probably come to the same conclusion as me."

"So basically with or without the Runner you're not letting me leave here without you, are you?"

"You got it."

Jesus Christ what am I going to do?

"Let's get going."

Its official this is the strangest girl I've ever met.

I can't lie though, me being on a Yamaha Duel Runner feels really cool and as the garage door opens and I see the bright, clear, sunny sky I get the strong yearning to let this baby roar.

"Alright let's get this show on the road Chase!"

Vanessa hands me a red and gold helmet. As I put mine on she sits herself behind me and place's her arms around my abdomen.

I remember how to ride, though I haven't gotten any practice in since august and it's now October… I probably shouldn't tell her this.

"Hold on tight."

I start up; I'm able to get out of the garage in less than 10 seconds. I like the feeling of speed, going faster and faster, the wind, but all this is ruined as I feel Vanessa's finger nails start to dig in to my stomach as she squeezes harder and harder, girl must not be used to speed I guess.

…

We reach our destination in a little less than hour. The building is identical to Vanessa's except for different numbers where the door is. Vanessa sprints towards the door before realizing I'm still by the Runner; thankfully she didn't see me lift my shirt to see that her nails had dug into my skin enough that there's marks left over.

"What are you waiting for?"

"Just making sure the Runner is locked," and making sure you aren't going to make me bleed, it's probably best I don't tell her that either.

…

As we walk through the door and into the hall way every instinct is telling me to stay on my guard, as I glance over at Vanessa, it would appear whatever instincts she has have yet to give her that message as she is literally humming as she checks each door for the number on the key chain. After about 2 verses of Camp town races we find the apartment 9-A as I glance at Vanessa I see her lift her arm to knock and I quickly grab it.

"What's your problem?"

"Even if this isn't a trap what are we suppose to say, Hi we're here to find out how and why your daughter tried to kill me."

"Beats the heck out of just standing here," she says she jerks her hand out of mine.

Vanessa's now knocks on the door loud enough I'm surprised the only door that starts to open is the one in front of us.

"What do you 2 want?" The woman who asked this question talks as if she's just woken up and it's after 11, she is wearing a pink silk robe, has long brown hair, reeks of booze and has a face I recognize, though appearing droopy and drunk, it is the same face as her daughters.

"Hi I'm Vanessa and this is-"

"Save it honey, just tell me what you and your boyfriend want." That statement makes me uneasy.

"She's not my girlfriend, listen do you have a daughter?"

She is now starting to wake up.

"What do you know about her?" With that Vanessa lifts the keychain in front of the woman, she then grabs it, examines it through half open eyes and looks back at us.

"Where'd you get this?"

"Remember on Saturday when one of the rock formations in central park was cut in half." I'm not sure where to take it from there so the, apparently, hung-over woman does. She places the keychain in her breast pocket and grabs me and Vanessa by our jacket sleeves, pulls us inside and locks the door.

"Go on take your jackets off and sit down." With that we both see a coat rack, we take our jackets off, place them on the hooks and walk into an unlit living room. We both sit down on a dark red couch, granted everything looks dark in a room where the only light is whatever can get passed the blinds; The woman then sits down on a black recliner and with cloudy eyes looks directly at me.

"I take it you were the one she was dueling Mr.…"

"Rhodes, Chase Rhodes."

"It's a pleasure, how did you get this key chain?"

"Your daughter started releasing hell; this flew off her belt I think." At that statement Vanessa nudges me in the arm, why I don't know, but I pay no attention to it and look back at the woman who is now once again staring at the key chain.

"You know I got this for my daughter when she was first born."

She lifts her head up and looks straight at me. "Mr. Rhodes I'm sorry for what she did to you but the first thing you need to know about my daughter is that she is an angel, an angel of death I'm afraid."

"What's that suppose to mean?" Says a shocked Vanessa, I'm curious to.

"Well you see my daughter, Abigail, didn't have a Father, a little bit after college I went to Milan to further my fashion study, I met a man, and I think you guys can figure out the rest."

"Wait a minute," started Vanessa, "I knew I recognized you from somewhere."

Now that Vanessa has finally said something interesting I chose to listen.

"You're Deborah Starzan the fashion designer; my parent's do business with your company all the time, but I don't remember ever hearing about you having a daughter."

"When I told my parents about the pregnancy we all thought it was best to keep it secret."

"So let me get this straight, you've spent, probably the past 10 years hiding your daughter like she was a criminal."

"Chase!"

"No, I hate to say it but your friend is right, I never took her sightseeing, never took her to a Yankee game, I even had my driver pose as her Father when she started school, that's when she started to change."

"Let me guess she started to wonder why Mommy never wanted to be seen with her."

Vanessa elbows me in the side, hard.

"Not exactly, you see I never got into dueling, but when she saw some of the other kids with cards she decided she wanted in. So for her 6th birthday I bought her a deck and a duel disk."

She then gets off the recliner and walks over to the large T.V. against the wall where we came in from; she bends down and starts fumbling with a D.V.D player while starting to talk again.

"It started a few weeks after she started dueling; apparently one of her classmates was thrown several feet after losing, how that happened was never found out. As the months went by more strange things started happening during her duels, mostly unknown pulsations, then when she turned 7 she entered a small duel tournament in central park, the first place winner would face off against Weevil Underwood, a popular insect duelist from the turn of the century."

"Wait a minute," I start, "Your daughter is 10, right."

"She'll be 11 in another month."

"What's so important about that?" Asks Vanessa.

"Weevil Underwood died about 4 years ago while here in New York." Vanessa doesn't seem to get it, I don't expect her to.

"I got the call a little after 4: 30 from my driver and then later, the radio in my office gave a report I'd never forget.

Weevil Underwood was in Manhattan this week for a duel tournament he was part of, during the final round people suddenly started hearing small explosions in the air. As things heated up people swear they could see streams of black going through the area, then when his opponent activated a trap Underwood fainted and has now been rushed to Manhattan General Hospital, at this time doctors have no idea what the cause of his condition is and the girl he was dueling left before we could get a comment, but we will reveal these details as we learn them ourselves.

I've been hearing those words in my head every time I've thought of my daughter."

"How awful," Vanessa said under her breath.

"Where's your daughter now?" I ask, now I'm sure I want to know what's going on here.

"Well after that I hid her, for 3 weeks I wouldn't let her leave the house or duel. Then after that this woman came to my home."

Almost on queue the T.V. now shows the same woman who got Abigail under control; in fact she looks exactly the same, no wrinkle, same makeup and her hair is exactly the same style as the other day and once again I get the same creepy feeling I had when I was talking to both her and Officer Tate, suddenly my thoughts our interrupted by the same thick Russian accent.

"Hello Ms. Starzan, I found that private investigator you hired to find me, don't worry he's been properly taken care of, but way I figure it you deserve a chance to see the progress I've made with your daughter, now she told me you don't know a whole lot about dueling so we'll go slow understand. Now my little Abby let's begin.

Abby

"I play the monster card Draw Fox in attack mode (ATK: 0/DEF: 0)."

There's no doubt about, she looks a little younger but this is the same girl from the other day and the same opening move as well.

Mystery Woman

"I summon Genetic Woman in attack mode (ATK: 1700/DEF: 1200) Next I activate the spell card Psychokinesis, now since I control a psychic type monster I can destroy 1 card on the field."

A black orb of energy flew from the arm of a cat like woman with a robotic arm, destroying the fox; I wish I had done something like that during our duel.

"The only down side to this card is that I must now take 1000 points of damage (4000-3000), but I can now attack you directly, now Genetic Woman mutant beast strike! (4000-2300) Remember what I taught you Abby it is very dangerous to leave yourself wide open like that, I place one card face down and end my turn."

Abby

"I summon Fox Warrior in attack mode (ATK: 900/DEF: 1100) next by attacking your monster Fox Warrior gains 1000 ATK points (ATK: 900-1900), now attack Genetic Woman, Fox Xiaolin!(3000-2800) I set 2 cards face down and end my turn.

Mystery Woman

"I activate the trap card Psychic Tuning, allowing me to revive my Genetic Woman, also because I control a psychic monster I can summon Armored Axon Kicker without tribute (ATK: 2200/DEF: 1800) now Genetic Woman attack Fox Warrior Mutant Beast strike!"

"I activate a trap card as well Kunai with Chain, switching your Genetic Woman into defense mode and gives my Fox Warrior 500 ATK points! (ATK: 900- 1400)."

"Clever, now Armored Axon Kicker attack Axon slam!"

"I activate my second trap Spell Binding circle which makes your Axon Kicker unable to attack or change its battle position."

"Very good I set 2 cards face down and end my turn."

Abby

"I summon Tiny Fox in attack mode (ATK: 440/DEF: 1100) next I play the equip spell Fox target, now my Fox Warrior is the only Fox monster you can chose as an attack target! Now Fox Warrior attack Genetic Woman (ATK: 1400-2400) (2800-2100) also since Tiny Fox is on the field your monster is removed from play.

"You've done very well my little Abby, but I fear today's test has come to a close, I activate the trap card Psi-curse which destroys the monster that destroyed my monster, so goodbye Fox Warrior as well as 900 of your life points (2300-1400)!"

At that moment my heart stopped as once again I can see waves of shadow come from the small child's body, however this time instead of attacking the woman all the rays began dancing around her.

Mystery Woman

"Now I summon Mind Master in attack mode, next by paying 800 (2100-1300) life points and by releasing Armored Axon Kicker I can special summon Destructotron. (ATK: 1600/DEF: 400) Next I activate the trap card Battle Teleportation, which allows Destructotron to attack you directly this turn, now Destruction Laser!"

Now all the waves of shadows are landing in the large androids hand, it is now tightening its fist and goes straight for the young girl. (1400-0)

Mystery Woman: Win Abby: lose

Vanessa shuts her large eyes tight as the young girl goes flying and then hits the back wall, waves of shadow appearing to be the only thing that kept her brains from being all over the wall.

Still in disbelief I look over to the mother of the girl. She looks as if she is about to cry, but my attention returns to the T.V. as I hear a familiar Russian sentence.

"Togda ozornaja lisy vernulis' v noru," with that the shadows disappear and the young girl is unconscious, the woman is now staring at the video camera and is about to speak.

"As you can see her dueling skills need some more work and she can't keep her powers under control unless Fox Warrior is on the field, but as you can see she's made a great deal of progress since I convinced you I could keep her from killing more people, however if you send someone else to find me- well let's just say things may not end well for you either, goodbye Ms. Starzan."

With that the T.V. screen instantly turns black.

"I've been counting the days since I received this disk; it's been exactly 1 year, 7 months, 2 weeks, and 6 days."

I'm too stunned to respond, I turn my head towards Vanessa and see a familiar emotion, it's familiar because if I wasn't so confused I'd probably have the same expression too, fear.

Next time: The Fool

"So spiky head looks like I've got you between a rock and a hard place, you can't negate my offense, or breakthrough my defense, there is one option if you don't mind getting on your hands and knees."


	6. 06 The Fool

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

By Kevin Jones

Turn 6-The Fool

"What the hell is going on here?" I ask, granted I don't expect a useful answer.

For about 45 minutes now I and Vanessa have been in the apartment of Deborah Starzan, a famous fashion designer who has also been hiding her illegitimate daughter, the same daughter nearly killed me in a duel a few days ago.

"I hired a private eye," Starzan begins, "Sadusky his name was."

"Wait a minute, did you Sadusky?"

"Yes, why?"

"Tall, wide, black hair and dark brown eyes?"

"Yes, but how do you know him?"

"Know him, he's a sector security agent, I was just dueling him last night."

"You think he's involved in this?" Asks Vanessa, when I told her about my encounter with Sadusky I chose to "cut out" the part where Sadusky fell to his death.

"It doesn't surprise me that the group that took my daughter, Arcadia, I think they call themselves, is full of people with even more dangerous powers than Abigail, I knew that when I hired him, but I had to know what they did to my daughter, I hired Sadusky 2 years ago, he didn't turn up a lot at first but one day he found out that the Arcadia Movement had a building they used for psychic research upstate. When he went to go investigate I never heard from him again, a few weeks past and I received the D.V.D we just watched."

"Do you still have the address of the school?"

"Yes, but why do you want to go there?"

"I'm curious?"

After that Starzan looks at me with a combination of confusion and what looks like either anger or disgust, I get both a lot.

Vanessa picks up Starzan's hands; she is now looking at her straight in the eye and has a compassionate smile on her face.

"Don't worry; we're going to bring your daughter back. I know we don't look like much but we will find a way to save your daughter, I promise."

"…Hold on one minute."

Starzan looks completely entranced in what the green eyed girl has just said to her. She is now walking into the hallway towards one of the closed rooms.

"How on earth did you do that?"  
>"I didn't act like a cynical jerk," she says this with disgust in her voice.<p>

"It usually-

"Excuse me."  
>Instantly we both turn our heads to see the woman standing in front of us holding a manila Folder.<p>

"All the information I have on Arcadia is in this folder. I'm giving it to you now with the full knowledge that I may never get it back. In all reality I think all the drinking has finally gotten to me, the idea of trusting a couple of kids with something like this, but I'm out of options and for that reason I'm giving this to you 2."

Vanessa takes the file away from the woman; I can only hope I don't return this to her while in a body bag.

…

"You know it might have helped if you showed some sign of sympathy in there."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"The woman's spent the past 4 years wondering what happened to her daughter, only to find out some Russian lady tells her that if she even try's to find out about her she'll kill her and then has you show up and make her feel like crap."

"She made her daughter think that it was bad that she existed."

"She never said that."

"How else do you explain keeping her a secret?"

"She didn't know what else to do, not everything is as black and white as you think it is."

"Well of course you're going to take her side."

"Why's that?"

"Because you're a girl," to all the women out there, you're probably about to get angry. I don't really care but I've now given you fair warning.

"What does I being a girl have anything to do with this?"

"Awhile back the FBI did a study on crimes that were motivated by gender to see what the biggest bias was and you want to know what they found out?"

"Indulge me."

"In crimes against men or women the biggest bias is the gender of the judge."

"Are you saying I'm not damning this woman because I'm a girl?" It is more of a statement than a question.

"Me, Darwin, 2,000 years of evolutionary biology and, of course your ovaries."

"That's the most ridicules thing I've ever heard!"

"And what we heard in there is definitely one of the most dangerous things I've ever heard, so now it's for you to go home. You got your little adventure and now you know what I've gotten myself into, it's time for you to drop you off back at your place."

"No way, with your people skills there likely to shoot you, and second I promised Ms. Starzan I'd get her daughter back."

"And almost 100 years ago they said World War 1 would be "The war to end all wars," tell that to all the soldiers who died in World War 3."

"Fine, mock me if you like, but, unlike you, I actually care about people so that is why we are going to… The Arcadia Boarding School in… Washington, New York.

"There is no we."

…

We have been on the road for almost 4 hours. Vanessa was quiet the whole time, but now she's starting to look nervous, kind of like when you're a little kid and your dared to go into the woods at night.

On the outside this large old brick building doesn't look any different from a normal boarding school. I look at all the kids on the grounds and they look like ordinary teenagers, but I can't help but feel nervous about this place. There's definitely something not right with this place and right now everything in me is telling me to get the hell away from this place.

"Hey I just had a thought," says Vanessa.

"Was it hard," I remark.

"Look, what if we go in there and the first person, who sees me, looks at me and, I don't know, takes over my body or something."

"This isn't X-men."

"I know, but after that DVD all I can think about is what could be in there."

"Well then you shouldn't have come with me then. You can't stay out here, thanks to that Security Camera you're already being watched and if you're out here to long then someone might get suspicious, come out here, and search the runner, and if they find the file in the storage compartment under the seat then were both screwed."  
>"…Your right, but we still need to be careful, don't forget we still only know about what one student here can do."<p>

As she points this out I switch my turbo deck with my ground deck and walk back to the runner.

"Detaching Duel Disk," Is said by a computer voice as the duel disk rises from the runner, I place my wrist dealer under the red duel disk, as it then lowers and makes a "bing" noise as it attaches to my dealer. As I move my arm up I can feel the disk wiggle, it's not a perfect fit, but it will do.

"How's a duel disk going to help us?"

"In case you didn't notice these people seem to control their power through dueling, so way I figure if anyone wants a piece of us there going to duel us first."

"So according to you if they want to kill us there going to challenge us to a card game," she says sounding skeptical.

"If that's how you want to see it."

"Well, to be honest the game seems kind of boring to me."

"Boring, you know what let's just get going."

Nobody turns there head as we walk through the large, apparently old, front gate however Vanessa still stays close to me.

"Hey, you!"

As I hear this I quickly turn my head to the voice and Vanessa jumps behind me.

"Who are you?" I say; the boy I ask this too is short and skinny with orange eyes, messy blonde hair and the buttons on his school uniform appear to be buttoned with the wrong buttons.

"The names Damon and from the looks of things you're a duelist."

"What's it to you?"

"Well spiky head, it just so happens that duelists are only allowed on campus if they can get past me."

"Spiky head?" that's a new one.

"Well," starts Vanessa, "it's not as much spiky as much as it's all sticky uppy and it's flat on the top so it's just kind of leaning forward in the front, kind of like a porcupine tail."

Great, apparently where I just thought people wanted me to comb my hair, other people compare it to small forest vermin.

"Well what's it going to be, duel or run away in fear?"

"Wait a minute," starts Vanessa, "are you telling me that in order to get passed the front door he has to defeat you in some children's card game!"

"Listen missy this-" Damon stops as he scans Vanessa from head to toe, as fast as he does that he is now in front of her, only inches from her face.

"Wow, you're pretty, what's your name?"

"Um, uh, Vanessa and this is Chase." She says this confusingly.

"You know, Vanessa, if Duel Monsters isn't your thing maybe you and I can go catch a movie over in town."

He is now attempting to place his arm around Vanessa's shoulder. Vanessa lifts her hand up and slaps Damon's hand, hard. Damon jump's a few feet back and is now rubbing the red spot on the back of his hand.

"You know what Chase, I change my mind, kick his ass at his own game!"

"My pleasure and if you want Damon you can have the first turn."

"Gladly."

Damon

"Alright then, I summon Bulbasaur (ATK: 100/DEF: 100) in attack mode."

There is now a small reptilian toad thing with a bulb on its back staring at me with red eyes.

Chase

"That's' it?"

"You bet, now make your move, if you dare."

"Fine, I summon Elemental Hero Voltic (ATK: 1000/DEF: 1500) in attack mode."

"You know I never pinned you as the comic book super hero type." Remarks Vanessa, I ignore this and decide to continue.

"Now Voltic use Voltic thunder on… whatever that thing is!" (4000-3100)

"Hey you can't attack on the first turn!"

"No, you can't attack on the first turn because the first turn is for setting up your strategy so to be fair I get the first attack."

"Oh, well I knew that, that was all just part of my strategy, now are you done?"

I nod and he starts to draw, I have a bad feeling this is going to be a long match.

Damon

"Alright then I summon Charmander (ATK: 200/DEF: 0) in attack mode!"

Chase

I have a bad feeling he summoned the little orange bipedal salamander with the flame on its tail to bait me, but I don't have time to play games.

"Ok then, Voltic destroy his lizard!" (3100-2300)

"Like a moth to a flame." Says Damon, as the lizard falls the tail on its flame engulfs it and then explodes with the flames going in all directions.

"Now you take damage equal to the combined amount of Charmander's ATK and DEF points!" (4000-3800)

"Wait a minute; you only inflicted 200 points of damage?"

"I know, not bad huh."

"Let me reiterate, you took 800 points of damage and I only took 200."

"I don't know what reiterate means but I agree with you, now mind if I trick you again."

"Please do."

Damon

"I summon Squirtle in defense mode." (ATK: 300/DEF: 1000)

Chase

"Well at least you summoned something that will help you." I comment

"You've heard of that thing?" Asks Vanessa

"Yup, basically its a little blue turtle that when it's in defense mode it needs to be attacked twice in order to be destroyed by battle."

"I got you cornered don't I?"

With that I draw

"No, it just means my Hero needs some company. "I summon Elemental Hero Stratos (ATK: 1800/DEF: 300) in attack mode, next due to Stratos's effect I can add Elemental Hero Lady Heat to my hand, and next I play the spell card H-Heated Heart giving my Voltic 500 extra ATK points, (1000-1500) now Stratos, Stratosphere storm!"

As the winds kick up the shell that holds the turtle in it is hurtled up and lands promptly on Damon's head.

"Oh yeah and also the monster who's power is increased via H-Heated Heart also gains piercing ability."

"What's that?" Asks Damon.

"Simple, normally because your monsters in defense mode your life points would be spared by Voltic's attack, but with piercing ability you'll take damage equal to the difference between my monsters ATK and your monsters DEF points, now Heated thunder!" (2300-1800)

Damon

"Ok that's it, no more games!"

"This is a game," Remarks Vanessa.

"Hey it isn't my fault your boyfriend keeps using Voodoo!"

"For starters, I'm not her boyfriend, and second I've dueled fairly and intelligently unlike you who barely knows how to play!"

"You want intelligence, I'll give you intelligence. I summon my Prinplup (Level: 3/ATK: 1300/DEF: 2000) in attack mode, like my blue penguin, good, because when I summon a level 3 or lower Water monster I can special summon my Piplup tuner monster (Level: 2/ATK: 300/DEF: 1000) in attack mode."

"What's a tuner monster?" Asks Vanessa

"Trouble," I answer.

"That's right; I tune my Piplup with my Prinplup in order to Synchro summon," Piplup, the smaller of the 2 penguins begins to run, it jumps into the air flapping its 2 tiny blue wings which cause it to dematerialize into 2 large green rings; Prinplup is now shooting like a bullet in between them, causing him to dematerialize into 3 shinning stars and with a loud bang in the air, "I synchro summon Empoleon (ATK: 2300/DEF: 3000)!

"Next I activate Empoleon's special ability; I remove my Bulbasaur from play in order to add Bulbasaur's attack points to Empoleon until the end phase (2300-2400), now Empoleon destroy his Voltic, drill peck! (3800-2400) Next I end my turn." (2400-2300)

Chase

Ok so maybe this kid isn't the worst duelist ever, but that birds getting fried this round.

"Alright then, I play the spell card Hero's Bond which allows me to special summon 2 level 4 or lower elemental Hero's from my hand. Now allow me to introduce you to Elemental Hero Avian (ATK: 1000/DEF: 1000) and Elemental Hero Lady Heat, (ATK: 1300/DEF: 1000) both in attack mode!"

"Now who's playing weak cards?"

"Watch and learn cause next I play the spell Hero Pressure, now your overgrown penguin loses 300 ATK points for every Elemental hero on the field,

(2300-1400) now Stratos attack!"

"Sorry but my Empoleon has a second effect, now I remove from play my Charmander in order to switch my Empoleon from attack to defense mode!"

The penguin's fins went over its face and I watched as a simple but deadly strategy eats away at my life points. (2400-1200)

"I set 1 card face down and end my turn (1800-1200)."

"Hey why did my life points go down?"

"Upon ending my turn Lady Heat inflicts 200 points of direct damage to your life points for every Hero I control."

"Oh, well either way this duel is almost over."

Damon

"So spiky head looks like I've got you between a rock and a hard place, you can't negate my offense, or breakthrough my defense, there is one option if you don't mind getting on your hands and knees."

"Will you just make your damn move already," this is getting annoying, plus we're attracting a crowd.

"Uh-oh, someone's angry, oh well, I remove Squirtle from play to give Empoleon 300 ATK points, (ATK: 1400-1700) now, destroy his Avian!"

I've got to act quickly if this is going to work.

"(1200-500) I activate the trap card Hero Signal!"

Ok there's a light shining in the sky that has the elemental hero symbol on it, now it's time to teach Damon a thing or 2 about special summoning.

"Now because 1 of my monsters was destroyed by your bird I can special summon a level 4 or lower hero straight from my deck, now allow me to introduce you to Elemental Hero Ocean! (ATK: 1500/DEF: 1200) Now it's time for the big guns!"

"Bring them on." (1700-1400)

Chase

"First up because it's my draw phase I draw one card from my deck," yes, "Next because it's my standby phase I can activate the effect of Elemental Hero Ocean allowing me to add Elemental Hero Voltic from my graveyard to my hand, next because it's my main phase I can activate the spell card Polymerization."

"What's that do?"  
>"Let me guess you've never heard of fusion summoning have you?"<p>

"Of course I have, but since Nes isn't too familiar with this game maybe you should explain it."

"Since when am I called Nes?"

"Never mind that, now because I have an Elemental Hero monster in my hand, Voltic, and a water attribute monster on the field, Ocean, I can combine them in order to fusion summon Elemental Hero Absolute Zero in attack mode (ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000)!"

Synchro, fusion, and ritual in the game of Duel Monsters there's never a dull moment, especially when it's fat, overgrown, navy blue Penguin vs. armored, white, super hero who can control ice.

"Now because you control a water attribute monster my hero gains 500 ATK points, (ATK: 2500-3000) now Absolute Zero attack!"

"Did you forget, I can remove my Piplup from play to switch Empoleon to defense mode, so it looks like your last shot at victory failed."

As I glance over at Vanessa I see worry on her face, since I know Damon won't notice I wink at her which looks like it's bringing her confidence in me back.

"I set one card face down and end my turn (1200-600)."

Damon

"Alright then, I remove Prinplup from play in order to increase Empoleon's ATK power, (1400-2700) now Empoleon attack his lady and end this duel!"

"I activate the trap card Defender Hero."

"Wait, what?"

"Simple now your Empoleon's attack target is switched from Lady Heat to Zero."

At that moment both Vanessa, Damon and the small group of people watching the duel watch in shock as Zero gets in the way of Lady Heat. Zero effortlessly grabs Empoleon by the beak and freezes it (3000-2500) (600-300).

Chase

"How did you do that?" Asks, a shocked, Damon.

"Simple, every card I play is part of my strategy."

"Same with me."

"No, every card you play is played so it can be used in some mundane, childlike, bone head strategy. A duel is about you adapting to your opponent and your cards have to the same, now Elemental Hero Absolute Zero freezing at moment!" (300-0)

Chase: Win Damon: lose

I hear a number of applauses coming from the crowd around us telling me that Damon really is either one of the best this school has to offer or he's that annoying that everyone's glad I shut him up. As I turn my head to see Vanessa's response; she looks like she's seen a ghost and at that instant everybody quiets down.

"Mr. Rhodes, how nice to see you again, and it looks like you brought a friend this time."

Next time: A day with Damon

As I look outside the door I can tell something isn't right, as I stick my head back inside I close the door and turn around towards Vanessa.

"We're being watched aren't we?"

"Do you really want to know?"

She nods her head.

"Yes."


	7. 07 A day with Damon

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

By Kevin Jones

Turn 7-A day with Damon

October, 4 2040; 4:00 p.m.-For about 3 days now I've been on the hunt for the answer to why playing duel monsters was able to make a little girl seem like the kid from The Omen. Literally in a day I've gone from this weird girl named Vanessa's apartment to the apartment of probably the worst mom ever and ending off here at a boarding school in upstate New York where I've had to duel some loud idiot and now right in front of me is the woman who appears to be pulling the strings.

"Tell me Mr. Rhodes when I told you to forget about what happened, why did you chose to remember?"  
>"I like a good adventure."<p>

"Really, cause from what I know you don't show much of a desire to do much of anything at your school."

She's right, but how on earth could she possibly know that?

"Now listen, I want you to leave, permanently this time, or else."

"If you know so much about me then you probably know I've got nothing to lose."

She giggles at that and she is now turning her black eyes toward Vanessa who has been frozen in fear ever since this lady walked out.

"You're traveling with a very pretty young woman; it would be a shame if something were to happen to her."

Damn, I don't put it past this lady to do something to Vanessa. I may not like her but right now it's my job to keep her safe. I know what I have to do but I'm not going to like it.

"Alright, we'll leave."

I look at Damon, for the first time he is dead silent which tells me 1 or 2 things about this woman and this school.

October, 4 2040; 8:00 p.m. - We're back in the city now. We've chosen a bench in Columbus square to get our bearings.

Vanessa has been quiet ever since we left the school; unlike on the way to the school she's not angry, but I can tell she's scared.

"Well I should probably get you home, shouldn't I?"

"Are you sure it's safe?"

"No, but I'm not sure where else to put you."

At that she starts to look sad, I know I'm going to regret this.

"You know what, how about I get you something to eat."

She looks up at me and smiles.

"I'd like that."

October, 4 2040; 8:10 p.m.-Arnold is at his hot dog stand, exactly where he was yesterday. We parked the Runner out of sight and walked up to him, he doesn't seem to notice either of us.

"2 hot dogs please."

He almost jumps after hearing me; he flips around and now looks surprised to see me.

"Vanessa this is Arnold, he helped me get to the Tops. Arnold this is Vanessa, she helped after you dropped me off at the Tops."

"You're alive!" He says surprisingly.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Aside from the whole mind controlled security agent, drowning, school that is possibly full of psychic duelist, and riding on a duel Runner that is powered by gasoline, gasoline explodes, I can't imagine why I'd be dead.

"Moretti called me before, there are some weird people hanging around your school."

"Sector security?"

"No, he's not sure who they are, and we're not sure what are next move is either."

"Why don't you just come back to my place?" Asks Vanessa, this idea appears to confuse Arnold.

"Where do you live?" He asks.

"An apartment up in the Tops, luckily I'm not too far from an entrance so we don't have to worry about someone seeing us."

Wait a minute that means I'll be stuck with this girl for another night, no way.

"Since its too dangerous for you to return to the school and you've got nowhere else to go my place is probably your best option."

I didn't think about that. As I glance over at Vanessa I see her scribble something on a piece of paper.

"When you guys come up with an idea call this number."

Arnold takes the number out of Vanessa's hand and puts on a pretend confident face.

"Right so you'll be at your girlfriends place."

"She's not my girlfriend!"

October, 4 2040; 8:40 p.m. - With the duel Runner put away me and Vanessa return to the upstairs apartment, now that were here I feel more nervous than I have all night.

"So then I take it you're going to sleep on the couch?" Is what I think she just asked, I'm not listening, something isn't right.

I walk back to the front door; not listening to whatever Vanessa is asking me. As I look outside the door I can tell something isn't right, as I stick my head back inside I close the door and turn around towards Vanessa.

"We're being watched aren't we?"

"Do you really want to know?"

She nods her head.

"Yes."

"What, by who?"

"Not sure, call it more of a feeling, normally I wouldn't say yes based on no more than a feeling, but considering everything that's happened, I guess our instincts are all we can rely on."

"We, you mean you, I'm not cut out for this! All I wanted was a little adventure, not all this telepathy and dueling, and spies!"

"Yeah well guess what, like it or not, you're involved."

"This is all your fault!"

"My fault, I spent all morning trying to tell you this was dangerous, you chose not to listen, you chose to loan me a Duel Runner, and you chose to come with me, if anything this is your fault!"

"My fault!"

"Your fault, if you would of just let me figure out what to do all this on my own then I wouldn't have to worry about keeping your sorry ass alive!"

"You're just a big jerk!"

Oh great now she's storming away, and I just heard her slam a door.

"That was cold dude."

As I turn my head Debris Dragon has materialized next to me.

"Where have you been?"

"Trying to keep up with you, Speed Racer."

"You have wings."

"Yeah, tiny wings and you've got a fast Runner, so I gave up and came back here after you left the city."

"Whatever happened to Dragons being brave, powerful beasts that could do anything?"

"They got fat when McDonalds showed up, but never mind that. Why were you so harsh to Vanessa just now?"

"I'm just telling the truth, and second are we being watched?"

"I don't know."

"Then go check."

"Alright Mr. pushy, but on one condition."

"What?"

"Go apologize to Vanessa."

Great now the little white Dragon is flying towards Vanessa's room. I reluctantly follow only to find him sticking his ghost head through the door.

"She's crying."

"If you like her so much why don't you go cheer her up?"

"You're the only one who can see me remember, but if I could I would."

"Yeah well I can and I'm not."

"You should, and I'm not leaving till you do."

I guess I have no choice if I want Debris Dragon to start searching. I turn the knob and slowly open the door. Debris Dragon was right about Vanessa's room. It's got white walls and is full of half open boxes and whatever isn't in a box is lying on cream colored rug.

Vanessa lifts her head off a pink pillow and looks at me.

"What do you want?" She says trying to hide that she was crying.

"I'm, I'm sorry, about before." I'm not use to apologizing.

"I guess I'm sorry to, I shouldn't have freaked out like that."

She sounds like she's calmed down but I can tell she's still a little bit shook up.

"You're scared, aren't you?"

"Aren't you?"

"I don't know, I've always been sticking my nose into strange things but nothing like this."

"So then what do we do now?"

"We should probably get some sleep, we'll figure out what to do in the morning."

Man I can't believe I just did all that, oh well at least it's over.

"Oh yeah and Chase."

Oh crap now what.

"What?"

"Good night."

What's that about?

"Good night."

October, 5 2040; 8:50 a.m. – There's someone on top of me, he or she probably thinks I'm still asleep so I have the element of surprise… I don't hear Vanessa so, hopefully, they don't have her yet. Whoever this is feels light so if I move quickly enough… I've got its leg, I roll a little and I hear something hit the floor with a thud, I quickly move forward and jump over the side of the couch, wait a minute this is…

"Morning bro."

It's that kid from yesterday, David or Damien I think.

"Sorry about that Damon, but you got to admit, it was fun scaring him." Vanessa says in a laughing tone from behind me.

"Sure was."

"What the hell is going on here!" Now I'm confused and I find it hard to believe that this idiot was sent to spy on us.

"I woke up about an hour go, that's when I saw Damon over by the pool completely lost and confused."

"She let me come in and we put together this little prank."

"What on earth are you doing here?"

"You tell me."

"Wait a minute; you think I brought you here?"

"What other option is there, you were so impressed by my dueling skills yesterday that before you left town you waited till I was asleep and kidnapped me, now you want me to be your partner."

"Partner?"

"Yeah, way I figure you're some kind of dueling superhero guy and you need a partner like something out of a comic book."

"If it helps when I found him this morning he was convinced we kidnapped him because I had fallen madly in love with him."

"Wrong on both accounts Damon, now what's the last thing you remember before showing up here?"

"The last thing I remember is going to bed."

"I mean do you remember anything out of the ordinary?"

"Well now that you mention it, I've been feeling this weird tingling feeling in-between my toes, I thought it was just athlete's foot but-"

"I'm talking about anything odd that has something to do with our duel!" This kid's driving me crazy.

"Well after our duel, Headmaster Ivanov brought me into her office and asked me a bunch of questions about the duel."

"Ivanov?"

"Yup, I don't know what her first name is though.

She's definitely sounds Russian, and considering the way she talks she probably is-" At that moment the phone rings and Vanessa heads over to the kitchen to go answer.

"Damon does the phrase Togda ozornaja… lisy vernulis' v noru mean anything to you?"

He pounders this thought for a moment and apparently thinking doesn't seem to hurt him.

"And then the mischievous little fox scurried back into its hole or something like that."

"You speak Russian?"

"Yeah all students at Arcadia have to take Russian."

That's right everybody, this kid duels like a 4 year old but apparently he speaks fluent Russian.

"Ok, do you know a girl named Abigail Starzan?"

"Unfortunately," Answering took him no time at all.

"She's a stuck up brat who scares her entire grade and probably most of everyone else, but she's Ivanov's teacher's pet. How do you know her?"

"She-"

"We got to get out here!" Vanessa interrupts.

"Why's that?"

"That phone call I just got was a recording from sector security; detectives are coming to question Tops Residence about that Sadusky guy you put in the hospital. I don't know how much they know but if they see you they might make a connection."

"Good point let's get out of here."

"Sweet we get to explore New York City."

"Hold on their Blondie, as soon as we get out of here we're going to a park, we're going to sit you down and you are going to tell us everything about this Arcadia group, understand."  
>"That's no fun."<br>"He's right Chase."  
>"Who's cares about fun at a time like this."<br>"Oh come on Chase he went to sleep in his nice warm bed last night only to wake up to being in a strange city, don't you think you could cut him some slack?"  
>"Yeah we're in the most famous city in the world and we should enjoy it."<br>"Fine, but while we're sightseeing you have to answer all my questions, understand?"  
>"Understood Bro."<br>God I hope I can get somewhere useful.  
><span>October, 5 2040; 7:50 p.m. – <span>Today was useless. I spent the whole day running around New York City. I'd ask Damon a question and he'd answer with let's go to the empire state building or let's sneak into a Mets game. I've been dragged, on foot, by both Damon and Vanessa; in fact I think the baseball game was Vanessa's idea.

"Who's hungry?"

"I am," yells Damon for the whole world to here.

"Chase what about you?"

"Do I look hungry," It's a statement not a question.

"Oh come on Chase you've acted annoyed all day even when we snuck into the baseball game."

"I am annoyed."

"Oh you're a Yankee fan."

I turn my head Towards Damon.

"I don't like Baseball, what I would like to do is find out more about Arcadia, you 2 on the other spent the whole day fooling around."

"Fine than Mr. grouchy, I'll go get us some hot dogs over there; while I'm gone you 2 can question each other all you like. We're in central park, one of the most calming places in the city surely that could even mellow you out."

Good she's walking away, maybe now I can get somewhere.

"Ok Damon first question, how'd you get involved in Arcadia?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I've been going to that school for as long as I can remember."

"Do your parents ever talk about how you got involved?"

"I don't have any parents." He says this like it's the simplest thing in the world.

"Where do you go during summer vacation or Christmas break?"

"Most students stay for Christmas and Thanksgiving, I don't know about summer for most kids but me and a bunch of other kids go to a summer camp down in Pennsylvania."

"So most students don't see their parents?"

"As far as I know no, can I ask a question now?"

"Depends on the question."

"Vanessa isn't your girlfriend right?"

"No." Why does everyone seem to think we're together?

"And she's not your sister or cousin, right?"

"Right."

"And she doesn't have a boyfriend right?"

"As far as I know, what's this all about?"

"Well I was just thinking that when she gets back I might just put my moves on her."

"You have moves?"

"Yes I-"

"I knew I'd find you somewhere."

Oh crap, hundreds of girls in this city and Satan finds me.

"You know you cut class, you fall asleep in class and you mouth off to teachers but I never thought you'd skip school for 2 days straight."

Both I and Damon turn around to see Millay with her hands on her hips looking angry at me, I fear if we stare at her for too long we'll both turn to stone.

"You look like someone out of a magazine!"

From the sounds and looks of it Damon has forgotten all about asking out Vanessa and now has his jaw dropped in front of the tall blonde.

"Who's this?"

Oh crap Vanessa's back; this is going from bad to worse.

"Oh my, oh my indeed, at first I was shocked to see Chase hanging out with a friend, mostly cause I didn't think he had any friends, but skipping school to hang out with a girl, that completely changes everything."

Millay then walks over and starts examining a now red Vanessa.

"Tell me Chase do you have a thing for red heads, that girl from last year was a red head to, hey-"

"That's enough Millay."

"It's just food for thought; however, and don't take this the wrong way, but," she now turns her head towards Vanessa, allowing her to now look her straight in the eye, "you're a bizarre looking one. I mean your hair practically covers your entire back, plus your pidgin toed and I take it your Jewish?"

Don't answer that.

"Yes?"

Damn.

"I could tell because of the big nose. Overall I'd say there's nothing that interesting about you, not really the kind of girl I'd pair Chase with."

Vanessa is speechless and looks almost like she's about to cry.

This is what Millay does, even if it's something that doesn't normally bother you once she figures out how to get her fangs into you, you're basically her toy.

"Oh well it can't be helped, ever since we we're little kids you've been braking hearts and causing trouble, I guess it's just bad blood."

"Ok that's it!" Oh crap now Damon's talking.

"Nobody messes with my pals and gets away with it!"

Except your evil school principal who tried to kill me.

"Got a duel disk in that hand bag of yours?"

"Yes and who may I ask are you?"

"The names Damon and where I come from if you got a problem with somebody or their friends you solve it with a duel!"

"Are you for real? Oh well I've got 5 minutes."

Millay

"Lady's first."

"You're sweet; too bad I have to destroy you. I summon Precious Stone Knight-Ruby Sword in attack mode." (ATK: 1100/DEF: 1600)

"Hey Chase," begins Vanessa, "do you know anything about this Precious Stone knight thing?"

"Oh yeah, there dangerous when used correctly."

"Does Millay know how to use them correctly?"

"Let's just say they match her materialistic personality."

Damon

"You like gem stones, well I prefer something a little more interesting. I summon Bagon in attack mode." (ATK: 2000/DEF: 0)

It's a small blue, domed head dinosaur vs. a knight with a long sword and ruby armor.

"Bagon steel head!" (4000-3100)

"Oh my you're so strong, I think I may be in trouble." Millay doesn't fool me for a second.

Millay

"Ok then I summon Precious Stone Knight- Sapphire shield in defense mode (ATK: 0/DEF: 2000)."

Damon

"So if Bagon attacks nothing will happen unless I… yeah this will work I play the equip spell Rage, now Bagon attack!"

"Wait a minute the attack didn't do anything."

"Not quite Nes when the monster equipped with Rage attacks and doesn't inflict battle damage its ATK points increase by 100." (2000-2100)

Millay

"Clever, but not clever enough I summon Precious stone night- Jet Axe in attack mode (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1400) next I activate Jet Axe's effect, allowing me to destroy your equip spell and inflict 300 points of damage to your life points."

"That's the problem with powerful spells," I start.

"What?" Asks Vanessa.

"They make easy targets." (4000-3700)

"Next I activate the effect of the Ruby sword in my graveyard; I can equip it to my Jet Axe and increase its attack power by 500. (1600-2100) Now precious stone slash!" (3700-3600)

"Precious stone monsters, while in the graveyard, can be equipped to ones that are on the field," I say.

"So she wanted her Ruby in the graveyard," says Vanessa.

"Yup Millay has no respect for her cards. Let's see if Damon can get past that."

Damon

"I summon Beldum (ATK: 0/DEF: 0) in defense mode!"

Millay

"I summon Precious Stone Knight-Topaz Daggers in attack mode. (ATK: 1000/DEF: 700) Now destroy his Beldum, topaz stab!"

"Sorry but Beldum can't be destroyed by battle."

"True but it has a side effect, but until then I set one card face down and end my turn."

Damon

(3600-3400) "Hey what was that?"

"During your standby phase if I attacked Beldum during my last turn you take 200 points of damage."

"Oh, well fine I summon Piplup (Level: 2/ATK: 300/DEF: 1000) in attack mode; next I play star growth which doubles the level of my Piplup, (2-4) now then I tune my level 1 Beldum with my level 4 Piplup in order to Synchro summon," Piplup begins to run, it jumps into the air flapping its 2 tiny blue wings which cause it to dematerialize into 4 large green rings; Beldum is now shooting like a bullet in between them, causing him to dematerialize into 1 shinning star and with a loud bang in the air, "Empoleon in attack mode (ATK: 2300/DEF: 3000) now I activate Empoleon's effect by removing my Bagon from play I can increase Empoleon's ATK points by Bagon's ATK points! (2300-4300)

Now Empoleon drill peck on Topaz Daggers. (3100-3100) Hey that attack should have finished you!"

"Which is why I activated a trap, Precious stone Martyr, I sent my Precious Stone Knight-Rose Quartz Bow and Arrow in order to make my battle damage 0."

"I end my turn." (4300-2300)

Millay

"Ok then, I tribute Precious Stone Knights Sapphire Shield and Jet Axe in order to summon Precious Stone Queen in attack mode." (ATK: 0/DEF: 0)

"But it has 0 ATK points," Says Damon.

"Not for long." I respond.

"Correct, I equip Precious Stone Queen with Precious Stone Knights Ruby Sword, Sapphire Shield, Jet Axe, Topaz Daggers, and Rose Quartz Bow and Arrow to increase her ATK and DEF points by 500 for each Knight equipped to her and don't forget the 500 ATK points for being equipped with Ruby Sword and 500 DEF points for being equipped with Sapphire Shield, (ATK: 0-3000/DEF: 0-3000) now attack Precious stone judgment!"

"Oh no you don't I remove from play my Beldum in order to switch Empoleon to defense mode so your attack does nothing!"

"Actually my first attack does everything."

"First?"

"First of all because my queen is equipped with Rose Quartz Bow and Arrow your Empoleon is destroyed."

"Not good."

"Not good indeed little Damon especially because since my Queen is equipped with Topaz Daggers she can attack again." (3400-400)

With that the multi colored queen attacked Damon directly, and if Damon can't think of something next turn that multi colored Queen's next attack will end it.

Damon

"Chase, Vanessa begins to whisper into my ear, "you have to help him."

"Damon got himself into this mess; he has to get himself out."

"Look at him, you saw his deck before when he asked you to see if you could help him with it, surely there's some advice you can give him."

"Well if I remember correctly he did have one possible combo that could save him."

"Then tell him."

"Why should I?"

At that moment Vanessa grabs me by my jacket collar and pulls me right in front of her.

"Because if he doesn't win you're never going to hear the end of it."

"Even if he wins I'm probably never going to hear the end of it."

"Fine then, if he loses you'll never hear the end of it from me!"

"…Good point."

Vanessa looseness her grip and I turn towards Damon, it's a long shot but it's also his last shot.

"Think about it Damon, what's her Queen's power coming from."

"Those other rock things."

"Correct, when the Precious Stone Knights are in the graveyard they can become an equip cards to another precious stone monster on the field."

"Equip card, I've heard that term before."

"Exactly now what card in your deck can help you win."

"…Actually it's in my hand."

"Wait a minute are you telling me it's been in your hand this whole time?"

"Yes."

"Damon you idiot, you-"

"Chase calm down."

"What's it matter anyways," says Damon, "it's a level 5."

"Exactly and what card in your graveyard can help you with that problem."

"Card in my graveyard… of course! I activate the second effect of star growth which allows me to special summon Piplup by removing from play Star Growth and Empoleon."

"How's that suppose to help you?"

"Just watch; I tribute my Piplup in order to summon Primeape in attack mode!" (ATK: 2000/DEF: 500)

"How's your muscular fur ball going to help you?"

"Simple because on the turn Primeape is advanced summoned I destroy all equip cards on the field and inflict 400 points of damage for each card."

In all the years I've known Millay I've only seen shock on her face on a few occasions, and this is one of them. (3100-1100) (ATK: 3000-0/DEF: 3000-0)

"Now Primeape go get her, big muscular slam!" (1100-0)

Damon: Win Millay: Lose

"How on earth could I lose to some moron?"

"Simple, there was no way you could lose to my awesomeness."

"That's one word for it." I say

"Nice work Damon." Says Vanessa

"Put your hands up!"

Instinctually we all turn around only to find 2 Sector Security cars in front us.

"Chase Rhodes, Damon Doe, and Vanessa Aaronson you 3 are under arrest for the murder of Detective Michael Sadusky."

"Murder," starts Vanessa, "You told you me he was thrown back into the tunnel!"

"I lied."

"What else have you been lying about?"

I look at the cop in front of me; it is Sadusky's former partner, Detective Tate, now I'm sure there's something up with this woman.

"We'll soon find out."

Next time: The Facility

The men behind us slam us to the ground and me and Damon both look up at the young Hispanic man in front us.

"Ok let me explain the rules, first day in everyone duels, you duel well you get respect, you don't duel well, well let's just say you might want to watch yourself in the showers.


	8. 08 The Facility

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

By Kevin Jones

Turn 8-The Facility

Last night was not a good night. First of all I missed dinner, which is never good, also the area I slept in was cold and hard, which is never comfortable and to top it all off Damon and Vanessa wouldn't shut up until they fell asleep which just makes me want to shoot myself in the head. Why was last night a bad night you might be wondering? Well in case you forgot I was arrested by sector security.

Millay got away easy, I don't even think they cared that she was there. All 3 of us were then driven down to the sector security building and locked in a big empty room all night long.

Vanessa made me recount my entire story of the past few days, without fabrication of people dying, and Damon kept complaining about how we were being unfairly treated and how our rights were never given to us, but what Damon doesn't understand is that while we were being man handled into a cop car he was given his right to remain silent, however what he lacks is the capacity to remain to remain silent. Our right to 1 free phone call was another story.

Vanessa and I didn't use ours; I've got no one who's willing stick there neck out for me anyways. If I were to take a guess anyone who Vanessa calls will probably call her parents, and I could only imagine what Mr. and Mrs. Rich would think when they see their little sheltered bookworm behind bars. Damon took his call though; he called his school but from what we could see through the window when he called his school no one answered and when they threw him back in the room he said he heard a voice on the phone tell him the number he dialed doesn't even exist. After that he ranted and I story told.

First Damon fell asleep and then Vanessa, after that I essentially wondered-

"Mr. Rhodes would you please look up."

That's, apparently The "Honorable" Judge Linda Ramirez. She will be giving the 3 of us our punishments for crimes they have no evidence of any of us committing.

The room we're in is dark with the only light coming from behind, shining over the 3 of us.

"Now then for Mr. Rhodes we have several new charges than have been brought to our attention."

Oh shit, creepy old curly haired Hispanic woman knows about me.

"Turbo Dueling without a license, 4 counts; Trespassing, 2 counts; vandalism, 1 count; illegal duel Runner parts, 3 counts and entering the Tops without a permit, 2 counts. Mr. Rhodes we contacted your school and your legal guardian, he has refused to provide council or pay a fiend; now I hope you can explain yourself."

"Turbo dueling is what I do, the only reason I trespassed was because I didn't know that it was private property, and the guy I bought the parts from didn't tell me that they were illegal."

"And the illegal entry into the Tops?"

"I was curious."

"Very well then, for Mr. Rhodes 1 year in the official New York City facility and Mr. Doe we have no record of an Arcadia boarding school, or any papers proving that you are in this country legally, because of this you shall be sentenced to 6 months in the facility for illegal immigration."

She is now looking at Vanessa who up until this point had been burrowing a hole into the side of my head, I think she's a bit shocked to find out I've been less than cooperative when it comes to behaving.

"Ms. Aaronson, being that you never took your phone call we took the liberty of calling your parents."

I glance at Vanessa, now she's scared.

"You may let them in now." As the judge finishes her words I hear the door swing open. I focus in on the sight of a man and a woman. The man is tall but the woman is short, they both look tired but well dressed.

"Oh my god Vanessa what the hell's going on here?" The woman asks hysterically.

She looks nothing like her but apparently the short, chubby brown haired woman is Vanessa's Mother which would make the tall lean black haired man with the beard is Vanessa's father. There isn't a similarity with any of them.

"Your Mother and I received a call that you and 2 boys had been arrested on murder charges!"  
>"That charge has been dropped due to lack of evidence, there are however several other charges that need to be brought up concerning your daughter-<p>

"Those are my fault."

There's only one thing to do at a time like this, lie.

"I heard at school we were getting a new student with a Daddy who had a nice Duel Runner collection, so I thought I'd take a peak and choose to run off with 1, I found Vanessa following me late yesterday afternoon, probably trying to get it back."

"And Mr. Doe?" The Judge asks, and, yes, I'm essentially making things worse for myself in order to save an irritating ginger.

"He just liked the Runner and started following me."

"Mr. Doe is this true?"

"You bet." Apparently Damon figured out what I'm trying to do.

"Ms. Aaronson is this story true."

"No, he's making it up!" Damn it, apparently Vanessa doesn't get it.  
>"Chase do you have any idea what they'll do to you if you take the heat for me?"<p>

"Beat it carrot top, to be honest The Facility's going to be great compared to having you around."

That's not completely a lie.

"Judge Ramirez you'll have to excuse my step daughter, she isn't very stable and she's been known to say things that aren't true." Apparently Vanessa's step Dad doesn't mind lying to a judge either.

"No I'm not!"

"Very well then Ms. Aaronson you're free to go."

Vanessa's mom pulls her by the arm out of the court room, her staring at me the whole time.

"As for you Mr. Rhodes I hope you realize that by making that statement you just extended your sentence passed Christmas of next year?"

"I don't like Christmas anyways."

…

It's been half an hour. My arms and legs are strapped into a chair while a helmet attached to the sealing tightly covers my head. A machine lowers and is aimed directly at my right cheek, I have a bad feeling this is going to hurt.

"I noticed that scar on your neck." Says, an apparently, observant guard.

"What about it?"

"Well after this you're going to have something new for people to awkwardly stare at."

Oh crap this hurts! The machine is spraying a liquid tracking device onto my cheek. In order to keep the tracking device in liquid form and not cause me serious bodily harm I think the laser is set at 180 degrees Fahrenheit. I'm biting down on my lip so I don't scream; I'm not going to give this son of a bitch the satisfaction in knowing he can make cry. Oh god it feels like its burning through my skin, the inside of my cheek is starting to feel like its melting!

"Didn't scream, that's ballsy kid, but it doesn't matter because now we can follow your every move."

As 2 more men lift me out of the chair the pain nearly makes me collapse.

…

I've basically been dragged to a truck where I've been sat down on a seat next to Damon who probably also feels to dizzy to say anything.

I turn my head towards the window so that I can see my reflection. Not too bad, it looks like a yellow stretched out Z going across my entire cheek. I'm not sure how they decide what each convict's criminal mark will look like but apparently they chose to go easy on Damon. His is an upside down V that goes along the part of his hair that covers his forehead so most people probably aren't going to notice his, as for me most people who know me probably saw this coming.

I wonder what Vanessa would think if she saw us like this. Wait why'd I think her of her just now? I should probably lean my head and just stop thinking.

…

The official New York City Facility, from what the guard said there are 3 rules. No chewing gum, no drugs and no dueling, so I guess there grey on the areas of sodomy and murdering an inmate because you don't like his face.

Damon and I are placed in a small square battleship grey cell. The beds are hard, the room is cold and there's a large blood stain on the floor but I better get used to it, I'm going to be here for a while.

"We're going to be here a long time aren't we?" Asks a disgruntled Damon.

"Assuming someone doesn't stab us first."

"Oh come on the guards won't let that happen."

"Damon as far as the guard's care you and I are street trash."

"But they checked are files as we came in so they know that neither of us are from the Satellite."

That's sets me off, as you can probably tell I'm not violent, but when people just assume that people from the Satellite are trash that's enough to make me roll up my sleeves.

I walk over to Damon, grab him by the shirt collar and bring him right up to my face.

"Let's get something straight! Just because someone's from a bad neighborhood doesn't make them trash or anything else! We chose who we are and it doesn't mean shit where we're from!"

"Kind words."

Our attention shifts to the guard standing in front of the door.

"What do you want?" I ask.

"Let's just say it's time for the 2 of you to have a meet and greet with your new neighbors."

As the door opens 2 other inmates grab me and Damon, I have a bad feeling we're going to find out the house policy on fighting.

…

We've been "escorted" to the center of the facility. We're surrounded on all sides by inmates. The men behind us slam us to the ground and me and Damon both look up at a young Hispanic man in front us.

"Ok let me explain the rules, first day in everyone duels, you duel well you get respect, you don't duel well, well let's just say you might want to watch yourself in the showers."

"And if we win?" I ask.

"Theoretically you're in charge but there ain't any chance in that happening."

"And why's that Mr.…"

"Kai and because I'm the best."

I scan the crowd, though he looks older than me and Damon, Kai is definitely younger than everyone else so I guess that means this guy's tough.

"O.k. then, I'm up first!" Obviously that was Damon.

"Fair warning kid you lose I can predict what your life here's going to be like."  
>"What?"<p>

"Damon do you have any idea what happens to little skinny white guy's in prison?"

"I have no idea."

"No surprise there, but how are we suppose to duel if they confiscated our decks?" I ask.

With that Kai walks over to the table and opens a suit case that has 2 old beat up duel disks with decks. Kai picks one up and places it on his arm.

"Let me guess a deck full of cards that you all found here and there," I know how this works.

"Pretty much; now kid say your name and the first turn is yours.

"The names Damon and I'm going to be beating you today."

Damon

"Alright then I summon Masked Dragon (ATK: 1400/DEF: 1100) in attack mode!"

I have a bad feeling that's the only dragon in the deck.

Kai

"Interesting start, I summon Blazewing Butterfly (ATK: 1500/DEF: 1500) in attack mode, now blaze buzz!" (4000-3900)

"Jokes on you because now I can special summon a dragon type monster with 1500 ATK points or less from my deck!"

"Do you even know if there's a dragon with 1500 or less ATK points in the deck?"

"…I guess I don't."

Damon

"My draw, I play the spell card Pot of Greed which allows me to draw 2 more cards; next I summon Regenerating Mummy (ATK: 1800/DEF: 1500) in attack mode, now Regenerating Mummy attack!" (4000-3700)

Kai

"Wow you actually took the upper hand, well than let's see what I can come up with… I play the spell card Bonfire which allows me to add a level 4 or lower fire monster from my deck to my hand next I'm going to summon the Blazing Hiita (ATK: 800/DEF: 1500) I just added in defense mode. Next I set one card face down and end my turn."

Damon

"Well it looks like I've got you on the ropes."  
>"That's what it looks like."<p>

Keep in mind that Kai said "looks like".

"I summon Amazoness Tiger (ATK: 1100/DEF: 1500) in attack mode; now Regenerating Mummy attack his pretty magician!"

Some of the guys behind me laugh at Damon's command but I watch carefully as Kai activates a trap.

"I activate the trap Castle Walls which will increase my "pretty Magician's" DEF points by 500 until the end of the turn." (DEF: 1500-2000) (3900-3700)

Castle Walls is an old strategy, but it works. (2000-1500)

Kai

"Alright than Its time to end this duel, I play enemy controller which allows me to change your Tiger to defense mode; also I summon Star Fire (ATK: 100/DEF: 100) in attack mode next I activate Blazing Hiita's special ability, I tribute Star Fire in order special summon Nitro Synchron (ATK: 300/DEF: 100) in attack mode, plus when Star Fire is sent to the graveyard via the effect of a fire monster that monsters level increases by 1 (4-5) now my Nitro Synchron is going to give Blazing Hiita's a tune up." The nozzle on Nitro Synchron's head is now whistling and steaming as it dematerializes into 2 large green Rings, Blazing Hiita jumps through those rings and turns into 5 shining stars. (2+5=7)

"I Synchro summon Nitro Warrior (ATK: 2800/DEF: 1800) in attack mode!"

It's big, it's green and it's about to make Damon someone's bitch.

"Now because I activated a spell card Nitro Warrior gains 1000 ATK points, (2800-3800) now Nitro Warrior destroy his mummy, Dynamite Crunch!"

With one punch Damon's strongest monster is reduced to rubble, (3700-1700) and it's not over yet.

"Now because Nitro Warrior destroyed a monster by battle I can switch your cat to attack mode and attack it so long as I give up the power bonus." (3800-2800)

"Am I in trouble?"

"Not if you're gay, Nitro Warrior dynamite wave!"

The tiger gets up, the giant green ogre attacks, (1700-0) and Damon looks in disbelief

Winner: Kai Loser: Damon

"How did you do that?"

"Unlike you I dueled smart."

Kai pushes Damon to the ground and turns around to look at the crowd of criminals.

"So what should we do with this clown!"  
>The whole prison is now fall of laughter. Kai places his brown boot on Damon's hand and presses down causing Damon to cry out in pain while everyone else is now laughing hysterically. I know what I have to do, I don't want to do it but I don't like seeing guy's like Kai do whatever they want to people.<p>

I place my hand on Kai's back.

As he looks back he says. "Can I help you?"

I trip Kai back and he hits the floor with a thud, now the crowd is quiet.

"You got a death wish or something!"

"I've got the desire to duel, think you can help me with that?"

As he gets up he smiles at me.

"You've seen the deck; you know how crappy it is."

"Don't worry I know what to do."

Next time: Marked faces and knives made from toothbrushes

"You're better than your friend Chase but this duels still over, now Nitro Warrior attack him directly and brings his life points down to 0.


	9. 09 Marked Faces and tooth brush knives

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

By Kevin Jones

Turn 9-Marked Faces and Knives Made From Tooth Brushes

Chase

Facility duel arena: "I summon Masked Dragon (ATK: 1400/DEF: 1100) in attack mode."

My first day in the facility has started off with a duel. I have a deck built with random cards, this guy has already beaten Damon and he has a powerful a Synchro monster; this is not going to be easy, especially because the only monster in my hand is red dragon wearing a crappy mask, but then again none of this adventure has been easy.

Kai

"_Déjà vu, I summon_ Blazewing Butterfly (ATK: 1500/DEF: 1500) in attack mode, now blaze buzz!"

The giant, brown butterfly with flaming wings races towards my Dragon. The Dragon tries to use his body armor for protection but it he is unable to stand up to blazing bug. (4000-3900)

"I activate Masked Dragon's effect allowing me to special summon 1 dragon-Type monster with 1500 or less ATK points from my deck."

"You don't know if there's another dragon in the deck," says Damon.

"Is there?" I ask.

"I think so," Kai Answers.

"Wait a minute," starts Damon, "why didn't you tell me that there was another dragon in the deck!"

"You didn't ask."

"Found it", and it's a little ironic.

"I summon Debris Dragon (ATK: 1000/DEF: 2000) in defense mode."

This Debris Dragon doesn't appear to talk.

"I set one card face down and end my turn."

Chase

"I summon Regenerating Mummy (ATK: 1800/DEF: 1500) in attack mode-"

"This allows me to activate Torrential Tribute, which destroys every monster on the field."

Suddenly a large wave sweeps the field taking the Dragon, the Mummy, and the Butterfly into oblivion.

"Fine then, I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Kai

"I summon Blazing Inpachi (ATK: 1850/DEF: 0) in attack mode. Now attack Chase directly!" (4000-2150)

He's got his giant burning tree heading straight for me, (4000-2150) sucker.  
>"Now it's my turn to activate a trap. I play Wolf in Sheep's Clothing which allows me to special summon to 2 level 1 monsters, one from my hand and the other from my deck so long as they both have the same name. I special summon 2 Attack Gainer's (ATK: 0DEF: 0) in defense mode."

Now I've got a pair of red haired Umpires as defense.

"You had that entire move planned from the start didn't you?"

"Of course."

"Don't listen to this Kai, he just got lucky." Someone screams from the audience.

"Shut up! That wasn't luck that was skill, skill I haven't seen since before I got thrown into this hell hole. Now go on show me what else you can do!"

Chase

"With pleasure, I draw." Alright, I knew it was here.

"I tribute both of my Attack Gainers in order to advance summon Elemental Hero Bladedge (ATK: 2600/DEF: 1800) in attack mode! Now Bladedge attack Blazing Inpachi!"

I haven't used Bladedge in a long time so it feels good to see his golden blade cut his overgrown piece of lit firewood in half. (4000-3250)

"Next I set 2 cards face down and end my turn."

Kai

"Now this is a duel. I play unattended flame, now whenever I control 0 monsters I can special summon 1 fire monster from my hand."

I think I know what's coming up next.

"I special summon Full Armor Ogre (Level: 5/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1600) in attack mode."

Oh boy, a big grey monster with guns for hands.

"Next I normal summon Nitro Synchron in attack mode. Now I tune my Nitro Synchron and my ogre," the nozzle on Nitro Synchron's head is now whistling and steaming as it dematerializes into 2 large green Rings, Blazing Hiita jumps through those rings and turns into 5 shining stars,0 (2+5=7) "in order to Synchro summon Nitro Warrior!" (ATK: 2800/DEF: 1800)

I had a feeling he'd try and get that out.

"Next thanks to the effect of Nitro Synchron I draw one card."

From the look of Kai's smile I think he may have drawn something good.

"I play the spell card shuffle in; now I pay 900 life points (3250-2350) in order to shuffle Bladedge back into your deck!"

I activate the trap return gain, now because Bladedge was returned to my deck I gain life points equal to half its attack points." (2150-3150)

You're better than your friend Chase but this duels still over, now Nitro Warrior attack him directly and brings his life points down to 0."

"How's that?" Asks, an apparently forgetful Damon.

"Nitro Warrior gains 1000 ATK points during the turn I've activated a spell card." (2800-3800) (3150-001)

"You forget, I had another set card and with the power of endure I was able to get away with 1 life point."

"Clever let's see what you can do with only 1 life point."

Chase

"Well then watch this, I play The Final Card! You see I can only activate this card when my life points are 50 or less and I control no other cards, in addition I must send all cards in my hand and in my deck to the graveyard."

"You're betting it all on one card?" Damon says from the audience.

"That's right because now I can special summon Elemental Hero Bladedge back to the field with double his ATK and DEF points also he can't be effected by card effects, now come back Bladedge!" (ATK: 2600-5200/DEF: 3600)

"Well being the best was good while it lasted."

"I'm sure it was, now Bladedge Slice and Dice his Nitro Warrior!"

The 2 behemoths went at each other but my hero's faster and has actual weapons instead of 2 giant fists. (2350-0)

Winner: Chase Loser: Kai

With that Damon quickly comes to my side.

"Well now who's a clown!" Starts Damon.

"It's still you." I say.

"What the, Bro how could you side with this guy after the way he treated me!"

"First of all I don't like you, and second Kai was doing all that for survival weren't you Kai?"

"Was I that obvious?"

He's says this in a casual tone as opposed to his serious tone from before.

"What do you mean by survival?"

"Listen." Starts Kai. "Around here you got to prove you're tough from the moment you get in here. I can tell that the 2 probably don't belong here but there are people here who belong in hell but got sent here instead."

"What's that suppose to mean?" Asks Damon.

"Think of it like this, my first day here my cell mate was named Jason, my second day here my cell mate was named William."

"What happened to Jason?" Damon asks stupidly.

"He was stabbed by a guy who had carved a knife out of a truth brush. In here everyone has to be on their guard and no one in charge is going to help you, rather you're here for shop lifting or murder."

…

Chase and Damon's room: It's night now. The rest of the day went without incidence, probably because we spent the rest of the day with Kai. Also Damon hasn't said a word since the duel which had made the day that much better.

"Hey Bro." And now it's over.

"Yes Damon."

"Have you been able to get the idea of a guy actually carving a knife out of a tooth brush just so he could kill some guy out of your head?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"Damon people will do anything to survive, even Vanessa would kill somebody under the right circumstances, and once you choose to accept this fact about life you'll be able hear stuff like that without even blinking."

"I miss Vanessa, she smelled liked flowers."

"Damon, for the remainder of the time you are in the facility do not talk about flowers."

"Alright… hey Bro."

"What?" He doesn't seem to realize that me having my face in the thin brown pillow means I want to sleep, not chit-chat.

"How come your parents didn't want to help you not get sent here?"

"My uncles in charge of me, not my parents."

"Why didn't your uncle want to help you?"

"Let's just say I'm not his favorite person and let's leave it at that."

"Hey Bro-"

"Damon go to sleep!"

"One last question, I swear."

"Make it quick."

"When we get out of here do you think Vanessa will want to talk to us?"  
>"Damon I can assure you that right now Vanessa has probably put the thought of you and me at that back of her mind and that's where we're going to stay for the rest of her natural life."<p>

Vanessa's room: Vanessa has stopped crying, mostly because she had cried so much, she's now exhausted.

The ride home was in silence. At no point did she want to look at either parent, for fear that they might look back. It didn't matter because when they got home they both yelled at her so much they more than made up for the ride home. Telling the truth didn't do her any good because now she had a bad feeling her parents now thought she was crazy. After a while she ran into her room, shut the door and had spent the past 11 hours essentially crying into a pillow.

"It's all my fault." She said to the pillow.

"If I had just let Chase be on his way than he wouldn't have been at central park at the same time as that Millay girl and security wouldn't have found him. And even if they did if he hadn't of given that bogus story about how he stole the runner, then he wouldn't be in the facility for the next year in a half, but no, I just had to have an adventure, it never once crossed my mind that Chase had gotten himself involved in something more bizarre than something out of a damn J.K. Rowling novel, all I could think about was how bored I was up here and I ended up putting him in prison."

She felt like she was going to cry again but her sadness was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Sweet heart, would you mind opening the door."

The old voice didn't sound angry, it sounded calm and nurturing, and Vanessa knew only one person who had a voice that sounded like that.

"It's open Gramps."

The old Santa Claus like man walks in calm and quietly as the young Irish girl starts to sit up.

The old man tries not to show a sign of shock. His granddaughter looks like a mess, her big green eyes are bloodshot from crying, her hair is a mess and he can tell she is still shook up from having her daughter in law and her husband scream at the top of their lungs at her.

"What's wrong Vanessa?"

"Oh Gramps I've caused something horrible to happen."

"Would you like to talk about it?"

"What's it matter you're just going to think I'm crazy like mom and Frank do."

"Nonsense, now listen, Frank and your mom love you, they just have a hell of a fine way of showing it, now tell me what happened."

"It's a long story."

"Don't worry I've got all the time in the world."

Next time: Gold plates and Blackwings

"So let me get this straight you couldn't keep your nose out of some guys business and now he and another guy are in the facility."

"Basically, but what's done is done and now I've got to get them out, can you help me?"

"Well that all depends."

"Depends on what?"

"Depends on how you want to get them out."


	10. 10 Gold Plates and Blackwings

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

By Kevin Jones

Turn 10- Gold plates and Blackwings

Vanessa made sure to stay in the center of the crowd. She was afraid if security saw her, they might ask her why she wasn't in school and then she'd be back where she started.

She's hoping that by wearing jeans, a Navy Blue Sweat shirt and Seattle Mariners cap, she won't draw attention to herself.

"Coney Island Beach, I guess this means I'm close."

She pulls a piece of paper out of her shirt pocket and carefully unfolds it and looks at the instructions her grandfather wrote for her.

According to her grandfather she was only a few blocks from a Italian restaurant called The Golden Plate.

She thought back to last night. After telling her Grandfather about Chase and Damon she got an answer she never expected.

He believed her, as insane as the story sounded he still believed it to be true, in fact he said he might be able to help. He wrote down instructions and promised he'd take care of distracting her parents and the rest was up to her.

…

The Golden Plate isn't a very large restaurant, nor does it look very nice. The gold on the sign is faded and for a minute Vanessa thought she saw a live rat on the window sill, but this was the address her Grandpa gave her so this has to be the place.

She walks in to a loud, crowded, cramped dining room with waiters going in and out of the kitchen faster than race horses; apparently, she's hit the lunch rush.

She quickly seats herself at a table in the corner and looks at her instructions on what to do next.

"Ask for Toni", are the last 3 words on small piece of stationary. She carefully scans the room, Toni could be anybody.

"What'll it be Ms?" The question nearly makes Vanessa jump out of her seat.

"Easy there, I just need to know what you want."

Vanessa looked at the young waiters name tag, Sam, so this isn't the guy.

"Um, may I speak to Toni please?"

He stares at her a moment, very intensely and perplexingly.

"Sorry kid she's in school right now, which is where I'd imagine you should be as well."

Vanessa's face turns red and she looks like she's about to panic.

"Listen I can explain-"

"Save it, you're not the first the kid who's played hooky because you need to see Toni. Head over to the board walk over by the beach and wait till about 3. That's usually where and when Toni duels, she'll probably be running a Blackwing deck."

"Thank you."

"However I'd recommend you order something. You look like you haven't eaten in a while and if you're in trouble with someone they'll spot you out easily with that kind of a nervous look on your face.

"People could be watching me!" The words flew around in Vanessa's brain like a moth mesmerized by a flame. Why would they want to watch me? They probably already know that Chase in the Facility but what if they don't? Then they might think that we split up as part of a plan or something and if whoever they have watching me finds it necessary they might just- oh god what have I gotten myself into?

…

Vanessa's fear had turned to boredom. She has spent the past 2 hours sitting on a bench watching the waves go back and forth. It didn't matter if she looked to her left or to her right no one who was dueling used Blackwings, she wasn't quite sure what kind of cards Blackwings were but she was sure none of the Holograms she saw were Blackwings.

"Hey carrot top!"

A startled Vanessa is now looking at a short girl with short black messy hair, brown eyes, and an upside down triangle with rounded edges facility mark on her right check.

"Me?"

"Yeah you; are you Rudy Goldman?"

"No."

"I am!"

Another voice came from the right of them; this one belongs to a tall young man who could easily squash both girls with his massive arms.

"Rumor has it you're the one who snitched me out to the principal," says the skinny girl.

"So what if I am; you're the one who ruined the school pep rally the other day," Says the muscular boy.

"Big deal our Foot ball team sucks anyways."

"Shows how much you know!"

"Oh yeah, prove it."

"I don't play Foot ball against girls."

"Fine, then do you duel?"

"A little bit, why?"

"Well way I figure it football's all about strategy so surely a smart and strong football quarterback can beat a little computer nerd such as me."

"Fine then, if I win you have to turn yourself in for every other offense you've done, and in the impossible event I lose I promise never to snitch on you or anybody else ever again."

"Sounds good to me, now let's duel!"

Mystery Girl

"Lady's first."

"Ok, I summon Blackwing Mistral the Silver Shield (ATK: 100/DEF: 1800) in defense mode and end my turn."

"Wait, did she just say Blackwing?" Vanessa says to herself.

Rudy

Some first move, but don't worry I'll make sure mine is much more interesting. I activate the spell card Double Summon, which allows me to normal summon twice this turn and I think I'm going to use my first summon to bring out Alien Shocktrooper (ATK: 1900/DEF: 800) and my second summon for The 13th Grave; (ATK: 1200/DEF: 900) Now Shocktrooper destroy her bird with Alien slash!"

The 4 legged alien monster ran and sliced right through the small shielded black bird and the skeleton was next.

"Now 13th Grave go in for a direct (4000-4000)! Hey why didn't you lose any life points?"

"Simple when Mistral the Silver Shield is sent from the field to the graveyard all the damage from your next attack becomes 0."

"Ok ,so you made one smart move but if football's taught me anything it's that Defense is useless without offense, now let's see if you can use offense!"

Mystery girl

"You want offense, you got offense! I play Black Whirlwind, now when I normal summon a Blackwing I can add another one with less ATK points straight to my hand, next I summon Blackwing Shura the Blue Flame, (ATK: 1800/DEF: 1200) now attack, Alien Shocktrooper!"

"Wow, you aren't very smart because in case you haven't noticed Shocktrooper is 100 points to high."

"And in case you haven't noticed Blackwing Whirlwind allowed me to add a Blackwing to my hand and the one I added was Kalut the Moon Shadow and by sending him off to the graveyard I can increase Shura's ATK power by 1400 (ATK: 1800-3200) (4000-2700) but it's not over yet because when Shura destroys one of your monsters I can special summon Blackwing-Gale The Whirlwind. (ATK: 1300/DEF: 400) Now Gale attack his bag of bones! (2700-2600)

Rudy

"Not bad, but not good either, I play Ancient Rules which allows me to special summon Red Eyes Black Dragon straight from my hand!"

Both girls watch as a large malevolent looking Dragon appears in front of them, it's most notable feature, its teeth.

"Next I play the continuous spell card normal revenge. Now since I have 2 normal monsters in my graveyard and since you control 2 monsters I can attack them both! Now Red Eyes Black Dragon Inferno Fire Blast on both monsters! (4000-2300) "Now then, make your final move because after it fails you're going to be in detention so long you won't have time to duel."

"We'll see about that."

Mystery girl

"I play Against the Wind! Now for the small cost of 1300 life points (2300-1000) I can add Blackwing-Gale the Whirlwind back to my hand! Next I summon Blackwing-Blizzard the Far North (Level: 2ATK: 1300/DEF: 0) now when Blizzard is summoned I can special summon Shura the Blue Flame (level: 2)!"

The chubby Seagull lands on the girls black duel disk, reaches its beak into the graveyard and in a burst of light the large blue bird returns to the field.

"Sadly my Shura's going back to the graveyard but don't worry because now a new birdie's coming to play! I tune Blackwing-Blizzard the Far North and Blackwing Shura the Blue Flame," the pudgy white seagull flies high into the air with blue and black bird man close behind. As Blizzard reaches its maximum altitude it turns into 2 large green rings, Shura now flies through them turning into 4 shinning stars and with the wind circling around it, (2+4=6) "I synchro summon, Blackwing Armed Wing (ATK: 2300/DEF: 1000)!"

The new bird on the field appears more human than bird and also this one has a gun.

"Looks like you screwed up, you should have returned Kalut the Moon Shadow because then you would've had enough ATK points to take out my Dragon."

"I'm not done yet because now since I control another Blackwing I can special summon Gale the Whirlwind straight from my hand! And guess what he's got a special ability to. Now I can halve the ATK and DEF points of your overgrown lizard!"

With no sign of fear the small purple bird flies up to the big black dragon and with a flap of its wings weakens the dragon to a level even it could fight at. (ATK: 1200/DEF: 1000)

"Now Blackwing Armed Wing shoot that dragon down, (2600-1500) Blackwing-Gale the Whirlwind direct attack, (1500-200) now who's got to make their final move count.

Rudy

"Let's see you get past this defense, I play Scapegoat which gives me 4 Sheep Tokens in defense mode." (ATK: 0/DEF: 0)

Mystery girl

"With pleasure because you see when Armed Wing attacks a defense position monster all the damage gets deducted straight from your life points! Now Black Wing Armed Wing, Winged shoot!" (200-0)

Mystery Girl: Win Rudy: Lose

"You tricked me you're not a bad duelist at all!"  
>"I didn't trick you, I am a computer nerd, and you on the other hand are nothing but a dumb football player."<p>

"Ok that's it I don't care if you're a girl!"

The large angry school boy is now running towards the girl. She stands still and when he gets close enough she punches him right in the stomach, as he goes down she lifts her leg and kicks him in his right temple, needless to say, he hits the ground with a thud.

"Now get your sorry ass out of here, while I'm still in a good mood."

Now no longer feeling like a big strong football player and now more like a weak puppy, Rudy scurries off, to shocked to say anything. The girl turns around to see that the red head is still here only now with her mouth gaping wide open.

"You're still here?"

"You duel Blackwings!"

"Yeah so?"

"You just got out of school!"

"Yeah so?"

"I know this is going to sound like a weird question but is your name Toni?"

"Who wants to know?"

The ginger sprints up and is now right in the girls face, she then grabs her hand and starts shaking it like a water pump.

"I'm Vanessa and I need your help, do you know how to hack into Public Security maintenance Bureau?"

"Hold on a sec there… Vanessa," Toni yanks her hand away from Vanessa only to realize it has now turned red from her grip, "let's step into my "office"."

…

Within minutes the 2 girls are in an apartment over The Gold plate.

"So before we head to my room how did you find out about me?"

"My Grandfather plays cards with your Grandfather, I think."

She then gets up extremely close to Vanessa's face and closely examines it for a minute or 2 before walking back, and sitting herself down on dirty old red recliner.

"Your Wilfred Aaronson's Granddaughter, aren't you?"

"How'd you guess?"

"Don't take this the wrong way, but you like him."

"Oh no I get- never mind that, listen I need your help."

"Fine then, get talking."

Retelling the story to Toni didn't take much longer than with her Grandfather however Toni didn't seem to listen and it made Vanessa feel embarrassed when her story was finished.

"So let me get this straight you couldn't keep your nose out of some guys business and now he and another guy are in the facility."

"Basically, but what's done is done and now I've got to get them out, can you help me?"

"Well that all depends."

"Depends on what?"

"Depends on how you want to get them out."

…

I hate The Facility! Day 2 sucked, everything I do is monitored and controlled even when I pee for god sake! Also it isn't very fun taking a shower with 10 other guys, each one- what the hell? There's an alarm going off and the cell door just opened!

"Chase what's going on?" Asked a dreary eyed Damon.

"I think we just found our way out of here."

Next Time: The escape

"You sure about this Chase?"

"No not really but we can't bet it all on this power outage."

Kai looks at me skeptically.

"My friend you got guts. If you make it, meet us at this Toni girl's house."

"Don't worry I have bad habit of keeping my ass out of too much trouble."

After hearing that Kai takes a deep breath and says, "I think we're a little too late for that."


	11. 11 The Escape

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

By Kevin Jones

Turn 11- The Escape

Damon and I jet out of our cell and we are now following the crowd of freed inmates. Someone, somehow, was able to hack into the Public Security Maintenance Bureau and open all the cells.

"Chase what did you mean by "we just found our way out of here"?"

"Simple Damon; all of hells broken lose which is the perfect distraction for us to get out of here."

"But didn't the guards say that we can be tracked through our marks?"  
>"True, but there's no way the person who did this wouldn't of done it if they didn't factor that in."<p>

"Person?"

"That's right; there's no way this was an accident. Someone wants somebody out of here but little do they know there helping us out to."

"It's Arcadia, I knew they wouldn't abandon me."

"Why on earth would a school that technically doesn't even exist go through all this just to save 1 kid?"

"Because Principal Ivanov said all students are needed for the plan."

"The what?"

"The plan."

"What the hell is the- Kai!"  
>We both stop as we approach a smiling Kai.<p>

"Looks like Christmas has come early, huh guys!"

"Kai where are they keeping our decks?"

"Some room over on the other side of the building, why?"

"We need to get our decks back."

"Hey I'd like my deck and duel runner back to but we can't loiter, we've got to get out of here."

"Listen Kai we're the reason for this power outage."

"Wait a minute… you 2?"

"Yup, the people who put us in here, not Sector Security but the real people who want us in here, want us because I was getting to close to something dangerous and it revolves around dueling."

He's looking at me straight in the eye, it's a crazy story but it's all I've got.

"You know what, I believe you, either way I've got nowhere to go after I get out of here and at least I can get my stuff back."

The 3 of us run as fast as we can, weaving around freedom hungry prisoners and dodging overwhelmed guards.

…

We've successfully made it into the storage room. It is a large, dark room, consisting of nothing but rows and rows of drawers, and the highest ones look like there about 20 feet high.

"Man it'll take us hours to find the drawers that have our stuff and we've probably only got a few minutes before all the power comes back on and all the exits close."

Kai sounds like he's ready to g-

"Chase, can you hear me Chase!"

It's faint but I know I can hear Debris Dragon's voice.

"Chase I'm over here!"

I run towards the faint voice as it starts to get louder and louder till I eventually find the drawer it's coming from, the top shelf in the middle of the row, to high for me to reach.

"Chase, I found my deck!"

A happy Damon and a confused Kai are standing in front of me.

"Did you 2 forget to tell me that you have e.s.p. or something, I mean seriously he just started running in a different direction as you and then he claimed he found the right drawer and it just popped open all on its own, no breaking the lock or anything."

"What do you mean it just opened?"

Before anyone could say anything the bottom drawer next to my foot opens.

"Did yours open like that?" I ask.

At the same time a wide eyed Damon and Kai nod. Now another drawer opens and then another and another until there are a little more than a dozen drawers open, forming a ladder with my, open, drawer at the top.

"Chase what's going on here?" Asks a spooked Kai.

"Don't know, what I do know is that I just found away to get to my cards."

As I climb I can only wonder what's going on here, either Damon is telepathic, which I doubt or someone is controlling this building's entire computer network, if that's true then my next question is, is this person helping us or setting us up.

"Chase I'm so glad you found me!"

Not realizing he's still a ghost, Debris Dragon tries to hug me but goes right through me instead. I ignore this and carefully bring my wrist dealer out of the drawer.

"Kai, Damon, incoming."

I drop my wrist dealer down, Kai catches it. I drop my deck box that contains my turbo deck, Damon catches that. In one scoop I grab my watch, and dog tags, this empties the drawer.

I carefully climb down and rejoin the others. When I get down I put my dealer, watch, and tags on. As I hook the deck box to my pants I pull the deck out and prepare to add a new card to it.

"Wait a minute you stole the Bladedge from the facility deck!" Remarks Damon.

"The guards stole it from another guy's deck anyways."

"But if you're a hero duelist to begin with why don't you already have one?" Asks Kai.

"I did."

"What happened to it?" Asks Damon

"That's my business. Now Kai where's your duel runner?"

"Next room over I think, luckily, when they got me I was able to hide both my ground and Turbo deck in my Runners secret compartment, hopefully, there still there."

"Wait, don't you still have your Facility deck," asks Damon.

"Yup, there's some stuff in here I might be able to use in my real deck, now let's go."

…

There isn't a single guard in this room, most likely because there to busy taking care of the mob just outside the door. It appears to be about as big as the last room, but this one is full of impounded Duel Runners.

"Here's mine."

Both I and Damon gaze in awe at a dark red Duel Runner covered in painted flames.

"I like to call it Racing Hell."

"It's nice but we can't all fit on it."

Once again, when I finish my sentence something weird has happened, the duel runner next to Kai has turned on.

"Hey, who's Toni Sorrentino?" Asks Damon.

"Where'd you get that name from?"

"You've heard of her Chase?" Kai asks while checks his Runner over.

"Of course, my question is where did Damon get the name from."

"It's on this screen."

I look at the black Duel Runner's screen and it indeed says Toni Sorrentino.

"Well Chase, who is he?"

"She's, a computer hacker and a damn good one at that, although all this seems a bit too complicated for someone our age."

"Either way let's get out of here; with 2 Runners, we've got enough space to carry the 3 of us so long as you can drive this thing."

"Wait a minute! You 2 aren't seriously considering stealing someone's Duel Runner are you!" Shouts Damon.

"You've got a better plan." Says Kai, this is obviously a statement not a question.

"But what about when the rightful owner comes to get it back?"

"He'll be told there was a jail break and his runner was taken; I'm sure that will keep him from speeding."

"This isn't a joke Chase!"

"Fine then, stay here, get caught by guards and be here alone which a bunch of violent criminals."

"Fine, I'll come, but I want you 2 to know that I don't agree with this!"

"Alright then, Damon, Kai you 2 take Racing Hell down one road till you make it to the Coney Island Board walk, there you 2 will need to find an old beat up restaurant called The Golden Plate. If memory serves that's where Toni lives."

"Wait about you?"

Damon asks as he puts on Kai's spare helmet which looks to be 2 sizes too big for him.

"I'm still not entirely sold on the idea that some girl could cause all this so I'll be taking another road, just in case someone starts tailing us."

"You sure about this Chase?"

"No not really but we can't bet it all on this power outage."

Kai looks at me skeptically.

"My friend you got guts, if you make it, meet us at this Toni girl's house."

"Don't worry I have a bad habit of keeping my ass out of too much trouble."

After hearing that Kai takes a deep breath and says, "I think we're a little too late for that."

"True, you've got the blue prints of this building on your screen?"

"Yup, just follow me, and oh yeah make sure nobody see's your face."

"Why."

"Look what it says on the side of your runner."

I look over the side to see the words "black power" in big red letters. Great I'm in a long nosed black runner with lightning volts painted on the front and Black power written on the back in red, now I'm in trouble.

…

We successfully find an open entrance, no doubt open do to Toni's, or somebody's handy work, we give each other reassuring nods and go our separate ways, and hopefully we'll all make it to the same destination.

…

It's been about 20 minutes and I'm sure Damon and Kai are out of trouble so it's time to put the part of the plan in to action that I didn't tell the others about.

Step 1, turn on the communicator and put on a frequency that can only be heard by the "secret" channel used by close sector security agents.

"I know you orchestrated this, and I know your right behind me."

Like I said Toni's good but there's no way a 17 year old girl could have done all this.

"Was I that obvious?"

I turn on the rear view camera of the Runner. Behind me is a standard sector security runner with a skinny white cop on it.

"Mind if I ask why you've done all this?"

"Michael Sadusky, remember him, remember how, thanks to you, he's dead."

"That wasn't my fault!"

"Yeah right, on that duel runner 20 years and you expect me to believe he'd drive off a building like that, no way!"

"20 years, but I was told he was only on the force a year or 2."

"Don't you dare mess with me! Me, him and Tate have all been friends since the academy, we looked out for each other, and then you show up. They may not be able to connect you to him except for the duel you to had but my gut tells me you're responsible for his death and you're going to pay!"  
>Tate, that was Sadusky's partner, why does she keep coming up?<p>

"Duel mode initiated."

"What the hell!"

"I admit I gave you a pretty fast runner but it can still be hacked. You may have beat Sadusky's deck but let's see how well you do against the official NYPD Pursuit deck!"  
>"Listen if I could've of stopped Sadusky from falling I would've."<br>"Bull shit! You're street trash; only difference now is that you've got a criminal mark to show it!"

There's no stopping this guy.

"Very well then, it's time to duel!"

Cop

Chase SPC: 0 Cop SPC: 0

"First things first, I summon Gate Blocker (ATK: 100/DEF: 2000) in defense mode, next I'll set one card face down and end my turn!"

Chase

Chase SPC: 0 Cop SPC: 1

"Chase," begins Debris Dragon, "What's with the giant wall with the big red eye?"

"I have no idea; I've never faced the Pursuit deck- hey why didn't my speed counters go up?"

"I can answer that, you see while Gate Blocker is in play you don't gain any speed counters, I've watched the duel between you and Sadusky practically 1000 times and I've learned the 2 things that allowed you to win; the first was your Synchro Coat Speed Spell, so I'm using my Gate Blocker to stop you from gaining any speed counters, now let's see how you'll do with 1/3 of your deck cut off!"

This may present a problem…maybe this will help.

"I summon Elemental Hero Stratos (ATK: 1800/DEF: 300) in attack mode, now I can use his special ability which allows me to add Elemental Hero Necroshade to my hand."

"It's still not strong enough to take down Gate Blocker."

"Will see about that; I set 1 card face down and end my turn."

Cop

Chase SPC: 0 Cop SPC: 2

"I've also done some research on Elemental Hero's and I know the perfect strategy for getting past Stratos. I summon Thunder King Rai-Oh (ATK: 1900/DEF: 800) in attack mode."

"What the hell does that thing do?"

"Well for starters neither of us can add cards from our decks to our hands except by drawing them, another thing it can do is destroy your little hero, now, thunder obliteration!"

Stratos is able to avoid the first few volts of lightning but he isn't able to avoid all of them. (4000-3900)

"Now let's see how you plan on defeating 2000 DEF points and 1900 ATK points!"

Chase

Chase SPC: 0 Cop SPC: 3

"Watch and learn! I summon Turbo Synchron (Level: 1ATK: 100/DEF: 500) in attack mode! Now attack with turbo speed fist on Gate Blocker! (3900-1000) Now I can special summon Elemental Hero Necroshade (Level: 5/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1800) in attack mode, next I activate the trap card Urgent Tuning allowing me to synchro summon during the battle phase!"

Turbo Synchron revved up his engines and shot like a bullet, when he stopped he turned in to a green circular finish line and a dematerialized, Necroshade flew threw and with a burst of light, (1+5=6) "I synchro summon Turbo Warrior in attack mode!" (ATK: 2500/DEF: 1500)

"Exactly as I expected!"

"What!"

The second thing that allowed you to beat Sadusky was your Turbo Warrior and by sending Thunder King to the graveyard I can negate your warriors summon and destroy it!"

This is bad; all I can do is watch as my Turbo Warrior is destroyed.

"I set one card face down and end my turn."

Cop

Chase SPC: 0 Cop SPC: 4

"Looks like it's all over, but don't worry by morning you'll still be alive, barely. I summon Gonogo (ATK: 1350/DEF: 1600) in attack mode, now end him."

Gonogo's heading straight for me, if this attack hits I'm screwed.

"I don't think so! I discard Kuriboh which sets all my battle Damage to 0!"

"So you saved for another turn, big deal."

Chase

Chase SPC: 0 Cop SPC: 5

"Oh I've done more then by myself a turn! I summon Elemental Hero Bladedge (ATK: 2600/DEF: 1800) in attack mode!"

"What! How on earth were you able to summon a level 7?"

"Remember Elemental Hero Necroshade, while he's in the graveyard I can summon a high level hero without tribute! Now Bladedge slice and dice his Gate Blocker and give me some speed counters!"

Bladedge flew up, extended his golden side blade and cut the rock wall as if it were nothing. (4000-3400)

"I know all about Bladedge's piercing effect, but did you know about this."

What the hell! Now there's 2 more Gate Blockers!

"Remember my set card, it's a trap called Broken Blocker. With this trap I can special summon 2 more Gate Blockers to replace my fallen one!"

Damn it there's no getting past these things.

Cop

Chase SPC: 0 Cop SPC: 6

"It's all over boy! I summon the tuner monster Ally of Justice Cycle Reader!" (Level: 3/ATK: 1000/DEF: 1000)

"There are Synchro monsters in the security Deck!"

"That's right, and a very powerful one at that! Now watch and learn! I tune my level 3 Ally of Justice Cycle Reader with my level 3 Gonogo in order to synchro summon Goyo Guardian (ATK: 2800/DEF: 2000) in attack mode!"

There is now a large Kabuki Actor in front of me, he has muscles, a strong looking weapon and a lot of ATK points, there is no way this is fair card.

"Now Goyo Guardian, Goyo Lariat his Bladedge!" (1000-800)

When the rope caught up to Bladedge it didn't pierce his armor, instead it lassoed itself around him and pulled him over beside him.

"When Goyo Guardian destroys a monster by battle and sends it to the graveyard I can special summon it to my side of the field in defense mode."

"That means that next turn even if I summon a monster you can switch Bladedge to attack mode, destroy it and inflict piercing Damage."

"Actually you're not getting another turn I play the Speed Spell-Sonic Buster which allows me to inflict half of Goyo Guardians ATK points as effect damage to what's left of your life points! (800-800) Hey why do you still have life points?"

"Simple I discarded Hanewata from my hand which made all the damage you inflicted 0!"

But that's not all I did.

"Make your final move."

Chase

Chase SPC: 6 Cop SPC: 7

"Hey how did you get as many speed counters as me?"

"It would appear by using the trap Slip Stream I was able to get around your Gate blockers."

"Slip Stream?"

"Slip stream, when you activate a speed spell like your Sonic Buster I can increase my speed counters until there equal to yours and since I didn't do it during the standby phase your Gate Blockers can't do anything about it. But you're right this is my last turn as well of the last turn of this duel! I play the Speed Spell-Angel's Baton, allowing me to draw 2 cards so long as I have 2 or more speed counters and I discard 1 card!

Almost there, "I play the Speed Spell-Elemental addition now since I have 6 speed counters, I can draw 3 cards, one for each hero in my graveyard!"

"You only have 2 heroes in your grave."

"Thanks to Angel's Baton I had to discard Elemental Hero Clayman. Next I play the Speed Spell-Dash Pilfer which allows me to regain control of Bladedge!"

"Big deal Dash Pilfer only lasts till the end phase, plus I stopped your ace card so there's not a single thing you can do to beat me now!"

"What on earth made you ever think Turbo Warrior was my ace? I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman, (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1400) next I play the Speed Spell-Speed Fusion which allows me to fuse Sparkman with Bladedge in order to summon Elemental Hero Plasma Vice (ATK: 2600/DEF: 2300) in attack mode."

"Sorry but he's 200 points to week."

"That's why I'm not using him to destroy your Goyo Guardian I'm going to activate his effect instead! I discard 1 card from my hand to destroy your Guardian!"

The armored Sparkman fires a volt of energy at his advisory, destroying it and doing a little more as well.

"Now since the card I discarded was Effect destruction you take damage equal to Goyo Guardian's ATK points! (3400-600) Plasma Vice Plasma fist on Gate Blocker! And in case you didn't know, like with Bladedge when Plasma Vice destroys a defense position monster you take damage equal to the difference between my hero's ATK points and your paper weight's DEF points!"(600-0)

Winner: Chase Loser: Cop

As the wall crumbles and then fades I watch as this cops runner stopped.

"Let's get something straight here. I didn't kill Detective Sadusky. Something very strange is going on around here and I promise you I'm going to figure it out and I swear, I will avenge the death of your friend."

Now that I've said what I have to say I turn off the communicator and speed up. I mean it, I will figure this out.

…

A woman sits in her chair, watching the night sky with a glass of red wine.

"Excuse me, Mistress, may I enter?"

"You may."

"I have some news involving the preparations for the plan."

"Go on then, I'm listening."

The woman has yet to turn her chair around to see the man.

"Yes well, it appears that the power outage in New York City was successful."

"What about our friend Mr. Rhodes?"

"Well he has yet to be accounted for by the guards; however we have confirmed that only moments ago he beat Sector Security agent Clark O'Hara in a Turbo Duel; however we now have no idea where he's going."

"I knew O'Hara would make a good enough pawn, and don't worry about Mr. Rhodes he doesn't know it, but right now he's playing right into my hands.

Next Time: Janus has infiltrated Sector Security

"This doesn't make any sense," Starts Vanessa, "These pictures are almost 60 years apart but the woman in each one looks exactly the same."

"I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for all this." Says Kai.

"Your half right Mr. Rodriguez."

We all jumps and start looking around in all directions only to find the voice having no visible owner.

"and as for you Ms. Aaronson I'll have you aware that my boss has been 40 for a very long time."


	12. 12 Janus has infiltrated Sector Security

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

By Kevin Jones

Turn 12- Janus has infiltrated Sector Security

I parked my Duel Runner in the ally next to The Golden Plate, the restaurant where one is said to be able to find the infamous computer hacker Toni Sorrentino. Seeing as Kai's Duel Runner is also here it it's a safe bet that him and Damon got here as well.

I enter a dirty dining room with most of its occupants at the bar. I walk over and sit on an empty stool that makes sitting on a cactus seem comfortable, doesn't feel much better either.

"Excuse me but do you know where I can find-"

"If you're looking for Toni, find the door outside, head up stairs, her family's apartment is the first one on the left."

It would appear I'm not the first person to ask the old lady bar tender where Toni is.

…

The hallway is dirtier than the bar, which tells me which part of Brooklyn I'm in. I knock on the door and wait for a response.

"Who's there?"

Sounds like Damon got here all right.

"It's me Chase."

"Prove it."

"Damon just open the damn door or else."

"Yup, it's definitely you."

I hear the turning of 2 or 3 locks before the door finally opens and he quickly pulls me in to a dark living room.

"Come on, according to Toni her parents are out of town so we have this whole place to ourselves."

We enter a bedroom that only has a bed, open window, Crow Hogan poster, and a wall that is composed completely of computers.

Human wise the room contains Kai, some short skinny girl with an upside down round edged triangle facility mark on her right cheek; I assume this is Toni, Vanessa; I have no idea what she's doing here, and some old guy who looks like Santa Claus.

"What's going on here?" I ask.

"You tell me," Starts Toni, "First Red over here shows up and wants me to hack the most complicated computer network in the city, granted I've been looking for an excuse to do that for a while, but after we got in we somehow get shutdown and I've had to spend the past 9 hours trying to fix everything only to have these 2 clowns show up and claim that I broke them out and that you told them about me; you better have an explanation for all this!"

"I do, but first of all who's he?" I point to the old man sitting on the bed.

"Oh, allow me to explain this one."

He begins with a thick Irish accent.

"My names Wilfred Aaronson, you already know my granddaughter."

Great now I'm even more confused.

"What exactly are you and your Granddaughter doing here?"

"Who do you think told her about Toni, yeah, I play cards with-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah I get it; but what are you doing here?"

"I can explain that," Says Vanessa, it doesn't take much to see how these 2 are related. They both have an answer for everything.

"Naturally my parents are pissed at me over everything that happened, when my Grandpa came over to check up on me I told him everything."

"I take it he believed you," because god knows I wouldn't.

"Yup he told me how to find Toni and covered for me while I was gone."

"And in that time I called your school and asked for this Moretti guy who helped you and from what he told me you've definitely had some adventures in your day."

"Again how does all that equal you being here?"

"Well naturally I'm here once a week so I knew where to go, so when I was sure neither of Vanessa's parents was going to try and talk to her I came over here."

"Fine then, now is there anybody else coming or can we please figure out what's going on here," says a clearly agitated Toni.

"No that should be everybody; Now Damon while we were escaping you started to tell me about something called "The Plan" now tell us what that is."

"I'm not sure, no one at school is quite sure either but Principal Ivanov talks about it a lot."

"How so?"

"Well according to her, Arcadia boarding school is dedicated to people with super natural powers learning how to use dueling to control them-"

"Wait a minute did you just say Arcadia?" Asks Toni, Damon nods and with that Toni swings her chair around and starts working with her computer. In a matter of seconds the large screen shows an open file marked "Arcadia Movement 2020-2027". Upon clicking the file a Pandora's Box basically opens in front of us revealing articles, video links and pictures.

"Damon, does any of this mean anything to you?"

Toni now seems happy after saying that. Damon looked closely at everything in front of him before staring at a picture of a man with large dark red hair, Topaz eyes, wearing a green suit and a large trench coat.

"I've seen this guy's picture before, in Ivanov's office; I think he's like her husband or something."

"Not likely," starts Toni, "this man disappeared over 10 years ago."

"Then what does he have to do with any of this?" I ask.

"The man pictured here is called Divine."

"Divine?" Says a confused Kai.

"Divine, Sayer, no one knows his true name, well I'm sure the CIA knows."

"What does he have to do with Arcadia?" Asks Vanessa, considering that's what we're all thinking right now.

"This man started Arcadia, only he called it The Arcadia Movement. He had people all over the world, each one with psychic powers trying to look for more people like them; you guys ever heard of the plant duelist Aki Fudo."

Everyone except Vanessa and the old man nod.

"Up until she showed up at the 2027 fortune cup she was The Arcadia Movement's top member. These guys had everything going for them and were close to starting their world takeover when their main headquarters in Neo Domino City collapsed under unknown circumstances, in fact the body's of Divine and most Arcadia movement members were never even located, I've always thought that the Japanese government took the body's and used the brains for experiments, but what if when The Arcadia Movement fell this Ivanov lady took over, moved Arcadia here and turned it into a school so she'd have access to kids with psychic powers and not arouse as much suspicion!"

This girl's crazy.

"Now hold on a second," I begin, "Don't you think you're taking this a bit too far?"

"Are you crazy? Damon proves everything; we got a get his story on the internet now!"

"A couple of things, first of all Damon do you even have any psychic powers?"

"I don't know about psychic but a lot of times my deck talks to me, that's how I knew where to find it back in the facility."

"Which brings me to my first point; you want to put that on the internet." Obviously I'm pointing Damon.

"Why shouldn't I?"

"Because here's what he'd say. My school is planning something I don't know about nor have any proof about, then I dueled a guy and the next day I woke up by a pretty girls swimming pull!"

"Chase."

Remarks Vanessa, I look over at her to see her blushing.

"You're the one who used the words pretty girl," Says Toni with a hint of laughter in her tone.

"Damon kept calling- it's not like I." Damn it why can't I complete a sentence? "Not important, what is important is that Damon's story sounds like complete bull shit."

"But it's the truth," Toni says.

"Doesn't matter, who'd believe it."

"Lots of people!"

"Damon if you didn't live it, would you believe it?"

"Not really."

"Kai if you weren't involved would you believe any of this?"

"I still can't believe any of this."

"Vanessa if you weren't involved in this would you believe-

"Alright I get it."

Good thing to, Vanessa probably would believe this.

"We have to do something," says Toni.

"I already thought of that, tomorrow morning I'm going to head back up state and wait for a chance to sneak into the school and I'll take care of this."

"What about me?" Asks Damon.

"Vanessa, Mr. Aaronson would you to mind hiding Damon for a little while?"  
>"Now hold on a sec," starts Vanessa, "you aren't actually considering doing this on your own are you?"<p>

"Yup."

"How on earth is that a good idea?" Asks Kai.

"Last time I was there Ivanov threatened that if I dug any deeper she'd do something to Vanessa; if I do this alone, she won't be able to hurt her."

"Wait a minute so you wanna go in alone to keep me safe?"

"Actually I don't want anyone getting in my way but you can keep your idea why if you want."

"Chase you can't do this alone," says Kai.

"You want to help, this morning you told me that you try to keep your nose out of anyone's business except your own."

"And once word gets out that I'm out of the facility there will be some people after me so I'm sticking with you until my ass is safe."

"Suit yourself."

"Wait a minute, 2 days ago he tried to make us bitch's, why does he get to go?" Asks a now annoyed Damon.

"Kai are you ok with the idea that you might be killed by ESP duelists?"

"If I stay here I'm going to get killed anyways, might as well go with the smaller chance."

"See that's why I'm willing to bring Kai with me because he has nothing to lose."

"So does that mean you have nothing to lose to?" Asks Vanessa, I personally think that's self explanatory but for some reason that makes everyone quiet and there looking at me like they expect me to answer.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot that Moretti guy met me at a café before I got here and told me to give you this."

The old man pulls a small blue flash drive out of his the pocket of his navy blue slacks and hands it to Toni. She puts it into her computer but the only thing on the screen is a tab that says password and below it, the sentence

"_Only Chase Can Solve The Riddle Of The Two Face."_

"It's a riddle," Says Toni.

"So I take it we need a password," says Kai.

"I got it," Damon says as he jumps up, "Batman!"

"Where on earth did you get that from", asks Vanessa.

"Simple both 2 Face and the riddler are Batman villains plus Chase Duels Elemental Hero's and one of them is based off of Batman, although I can't remember which one, but either way it makes complete sense."

"It would," I start, "except Moretti doesn't know anything else accept conspiracy theories and history. Up until a week ago, I only knew about the ladder."

"What ladder?"

"Damon forget it, the riddle has a historic answer."

Problem is I don't know the answer, but I'm not going to tell everyone else that.

"Wait a minute," oh shit Toni's about to start complaining again I just know it, "who put you in charge?"

"Nobody; but this is my problem and frankly Moretti doesn't know any of you."  
>"Yeah somebody knows you, big deal, what do you think this is ancient Rome, knowing somebody doesn't help you get in charge!"<p>

Ancient Rome that's it!

"Type in Janus, J a n u s."

"Why Janus?"

"Simple every letter in the riddle is capitalized which means the answer has to involve something that begins with one of those letters, that's also why he put my name in there, Moretti thinks that dangerous people are involved in this, which means someone who stole this would imagine the password is something Moretti would remember like say the name of a student, but why stop there, Moretti takes everything to the extreme and he knows I know that so most likely it's not a student's name or any name for that matter but it still has to relate it to me so it's going to be about what were studying in class, ancient civilizations."

"But with all the other letters it could easily be the Ottomans, Chinese, Celts, Sumerians, or the Thracians?" Asks an apparently knowledgeable Vanessa.

"Simple no other ancient civilization has a 2 faced god. Janus he's the roman god of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings and endings and I bet none of you can guess what his most notable physical feature."

"2 faces," says Toni as she types Janus into her computer.

Holy crap, there's dozens of pictures popping up, each only containing a women who doesn't appear to know she's being photographed.

"Hey look its Principal Ivanov," says Damon.

"And that there is the former Mayor of the city, Tina Johnson," says the old man.

"This one over here looks like the judge at our trial," says Vanessa.

"I know this lady over here," starts Toni, "She's a Detective named Tate who arrested me a few months ago for joy riding on my neighbors Duel Runner without a license."

Toni's right, one of the pictures is definitely Detective Tate but a lot of these women don't appear to have anything in common except that they all appear to be in their late 30's, other than that all of these pictures are different including the dates, the earliest ones appears to be from the early 1990's and newest one is from a month ago it makes no- oh my god.

"Guys the woman in every photo is the same person."

As unbelievable as it sounds everyone sees it to, the ultimate example of someone with 2 faces, well what appears to be 100 faces.

"This doesn't make any sense," Started Vanessa, "These pictures are almost 60 years apart but the woman in it looks exactly the same."

"I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for all this." Says Kai.

"Your half right Mr. Rodriguez."

We all jump and start looking in all directions, only to find the voice having no visible owner.

"And as for you Ms. Aaronson I'll have you aware that my boss has been 40 for a very long time."

"Show yourself," I say; seriously what else could go wrong tonight!

"Wait a minute I know that voice," says Damon.

"Mortimer is that you?"

"Well if it isn't the school retard."

I don't believe this; right in the doorway there's a guy no older than us materializing from nothing.

"Well looks like you managed to screw everything up again." He says this to Damon but I can't possibly imagine someone like this knowing Damon; whereas Damon's street clothes include a short sleeved orange and white striped jacket with, I think a white t-shirt under that, green scarf and blue jeans. This guy's in nothing but black, black shoes, jeans, denim jacket, long black hair that pretty much covers his eyes, although his shirt does have blood red on it, but as far as I'm concerned the only important thing is that he has an Arcadia School issued Duel Disk.

"Tell me Damon, you were given one mission and one mission only and that was to keep Rhodes in one place long enough until we could figure out the best way to drain him of his shadow energy, how the hell were you able to screw that up!"

"I don't remember being told that!"

Mortimer, at first, looks puzzled but I think he knows what's going on here.

"Of course," he starts, "tell me has Damon told you all what his special power is?"  
>"He sees duel spirits," I say.<p>

"That and our school's studies show that Damon has the ability to erase people's memories."

This puts a shock on everybody's face including Damon's.

"This would be a great tool for our plans if it wasn't for the fact that the only memories Damon knows how to erase are his own!"

"Well that explains a lot, but tell me, what are you guys planning?"  
>"It's a miracle that Damon didn't erase that as well; either way I don't particularly feel like telling you that so I think I'll just kill you all instead."<p>

"I'd like to see you try," says Kai.

Mortimer waves his hand and suddenly Kai starts staring at his arm with a look of shock on his face.

"My arm, my arm, it's gone, my arm is gone!"

"Fascinating isn't it; my power is to essentially erase myself from being noticed by people, if I'm right in front of you then you can't see me, here me, smell me or even feel me. I also have another little trick that I'm quite fond of."

He waves his hand again and Kai calms down however Kai's arm now appears num.

"My second power allows me to place a barrier around parts of a person, they don't turn invisible but instead there body believes that body part is now gone and that part of the body begins to shut down. However Chase you are to powerful for a trick like that so I've devised a little gamble."

He turns his gaze to Vanessa and waves his hand again but it doesn't look like anything's happening.

"You and I are going to duel. Through dueling your shadow energy will weaken, when you lose I will be able to turn you off, so to speak."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then I turn the Ginger girl off instead, but by all means say no and watch her die."

Oh shit this is what I was afraid of. "Very well than lets duel."

Chase

"First move goes to you," he says.

"All right then, my draw!" I got to make this quick, I have a bad feeling there's more on the line here than just my ass.

"I summon Elemental Hero Voltic (ATK: 1000/DEF: 1500) in defense mode and I set 1 card face down. Now make your move."

Mortimer

"Gladly I summon Phantom Beast Cross-Wing (ATK: 1300/DEF: 1300) in attack mode! Next I play the equip spell Axe of Despair giving Cross-Wing 1000 ATK points (1300-2300) Now attack, phantom wing slash!"  
>His large gold bird struck down my hero and fell straight into my trap.<p>

"I activate a trap card Hero Counterattack! Now you select 1 card in my hand and if it's an Elemental Hero I can destroy your overgrown chicken and special summon the selected Hero, now make your choice!"

"I… select the card on the far left."

"Excellent choice, well for me anyways because now say goodbye to your chicken and hello to Elemental Hero Avian (ATK: 1000/DEF: 1000) in attack mode!"

In a way only a hero can Avian fly's down on the field and cuts his chicken in half.

"Not bad I set one card face down and end my turn!"

Chase

Alright I got rid of his monster and now I can get him with a direct attack.

"I summon Elemental Hero Lady Heat (ATK: 1300/DEF: 1000) in attack mode, now Avian, feather quill cascade and Lady Heat, heat kick!" (4000-1700)  
>"Alright Chase another round like that and you win," I'd have to agree with Damon on this one.<p>

"Oh no I'm done for… not; I activate a trap of my own, Apple of Frigg! Now because you attacked me directly I gain life points equal to the damage I took! (1700-4000) Also now I get a Wicked Spirit Token and his ATK and DEF points are equal to the damage I took (ATK: 2300/DEF: 2300)!

I don't believe this. "I place one card face down and end my turn. Also during my end phase you take 200 points of damage for each hero I control, heat flare!" (4000-3600)

Mortimer

"I draw and next I tribute my Wicked Spirit Token in order to summon Berfomet!"

Oh no I know this move and I played right into it.

"Now because I summoned Berfomet, I can add Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts straight to my hand."

"Wait a minute," starts Kai, "He isn't going to do what I think he's going to do is he!"

"Oh yes I am; I play polymerization allowing me to fuse my Berfomet and Gazielle in order to summon Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast (ATK: 2100/DEF: 1800) in attack mode and thanks to the fact that Phantom Beast Cross-Wing is in the graveyard all Phantom Beast monsters gain 300 ATK points and guess what kind of a monster Chimera is treated as!" (2100-2400)

One of Yugi Moto's oldest strategies and thanks to me, this guy just pulled it off.

"Now Chimera destroy his Avian, phantom fang!"  
>This isn't good; Chimera is too fast for Avian to fly away from. (4000-2600)<p>

"Oh yeah, I may have left something out when I explained our wager."

What does he mean by-

"Vanessa!" Everyone yells this at once. I don't know why but she's on the ground, wait a minute this guy said before that when he tries to use his power on someone else that person… oh no.

"My legs," Vanessa starts, "my legs are gone," she says with a voice full of fear.

Next Time: "Elemental Heros vs. Phantom Beasts

"I admit your friend has a strong will but she can't hold my powers back forever and with no cards in your hand or on your side of the field I don't think we'll have to wait long at all."


	13. 13 Elemental Hero's Vs Phantom Beasts

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

By Kevin Jones

Turn 13- Elemental Heros vs. Phantom Beasts

Mortimer

"I draw and next I tribute my Wicked Spirit Token in order to summon Berfomet!"

Oh no I know this move and I played right into it.

"Now because I summoned Berfomet, I can add Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts straight to my hand."

"Wait a minute," starts Kai, "He isn't going to do what I think he's going to do is he!"

"Oh yes I am; I play polymerization allowing me to fuse my Berfomet and Gazielle in order to summon Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast (ATK: 2100/DEF: 1800) in attack mode and thanks to the fact that Phantom Beast Cross-Wing is in the graveyard all Phantom Beast monsters gain 300 ATK points and guess what kind of a monster Chimera is treated as!" (2100-2400)

One of Yugi Moto's oldest strategies and thanks to me, this guy just pulled it off.

"Now Chimera destroy his Avian, phantom fang!"  
>This isn't good; Chimera is too fast for Avian to fly away from. (4000-2600)<p>

"Oh yeah, I may have left something out when I explained our wager."

What does he mean by-

"Vanessa!" Everyone yells this at once. I don't know why but she's on the ground… wait a minute this guy said before that when he tries to use his power on someone else that person… oh no.

"My legs," Vanessa starts, "my legs are gone," she says with a voice full of fear.

"What have you done to my granddaughter you monster?"

"Simple really, like Damon said, Arcadia teaches its students how to control their powers through dueling when I developed my second ability I was taught the art of the Shadow Game."

"Shadow Game?" I ask, most likely everybody else is wondering the same thing.

"A shadow game is Duel Monsters oldest form. In ancient time's men with supernatural powers like you and me would compete in games using powerful monsters, much like we are right now but with 2 differences. First of all these monsters were real and second the stakes were more than just bragging rights. Unfortunately I can't make the monsters real but I have raised the stakes."

"What kind of stakes?"  
>"Simple every time you lose life points my barrier will increase over your girlfriend's body, over everything she can live without of course, until the barrier can only expand onto places she needs, like over her Brain or Lungs. Hopefully the angrier you'll get the more power you'll release and then when you lose I'll be able to absorb all your power and since she's what's at stake once I defeat you, I get her strength as well, who knows maybe there's something decent hiding inside her-"<p>

"Don't even think about what's inside her because I don't intend to lose."

Chase

"My draw," yes, "I play the Field Spell Skyscraper!"

With that the walls of Toni's bedroom are replaced by New York City Skyscrapers.

"Now when Elemental Heros attack monsters with higher ATK points they gain 1000 ATK points."

"That still won't help you."

"Maybe not with Lady Heat but with my next hero your mutant is done for; I summon Elemental Hero Captain Gold, (ATK: 2100/DEF: 800) now Captain Gold, golden hero strike!" (2100-3100)

The warrior, all in gold armor, jumped from building to building, got behind Chimera, jumped and broke its spine, avenging the fallen Avian. (3600-2900)

"Hey what's that Gazelle (ATK: 1500/DEF: 1200) thingy doing back?" Apparently Damon doesn't know much about Yugi Moto's deck.

"Simple slacker when Chimera is destroyed I can special summon either Gazelle or Berfomet in defense mode."

"Well don't forget my Lady Heat still has her attack, now Heat kick!"

"Don't worry Vanessa," starts Kai, "this guy's got an empty field and Chase has a monster with 2100 ATK points, this guys done." (2900-2500)

Mortimer

"Don't worry I'm not through with you yet. I summon Phantom Beast Thunder-Pegasus (ATK: 700/DEF: 2000) in defense mode, next I'll set 1 card face down and end my turn."

Chase

There's no way someone at this guys skill level would just leave himself with nothing but a defense monster, I have no doubt his face down is something to get rid of my Captain Gold, but contrary to what this asshole thinks most people don't fall for tricks like that.

"I summon Elemental Hero Stratos (ATK: 1800/DEF: 300) in attack mode, also when he's summoned I can destroy your set card!"

"Then I guess I'll just activate it first! I activate Dust Tornado destroying your Skyscraper!"

Oh crap he knows Captain Gold's weakness.

"Hey what happen to Captain Gold?"

"Damon your stupidity never ceases to amaze me. Elemental Hero Captain Gold is a special type of monster called a Field Searcher. Field searchers are the most powerful level 4 monsters out there but they come with a hefty price, if there on the field while their respective field spells aren't then there destroyed."

"Don't think that just because you saw past my Captain Gold doesn't mean I'm out of tricks just yet. I activate the trap Skill Successor now I can increase Stratos's ATK points by 400 until the end of the turn!" (1800-2200)

"Alright that makes Stratos stronger than his mutant horse," says Toni, I agree.

"Now Stratos Stratosphere Storm, now that he's gone Lady Heat attack him directly (2500-1200) and now that I end my turn you take even more damage!" (1200-600) (2200-1800)

Mortimer

"This is great," why the hell is the loser happy? "Out of every shadow game I've ever played this is definitely the best."

"Wait a minute, you've done this before?"

"Well don't get me wrong girl, you're the first person I've ever had as a wager, to be perfectly honest I wish it didn't have to be a girl with your kind of body, but I've been having shadow games since I was about 10."

"Have people died?" I ask, with the bad feeling of already knowing the answer.

"Of course, a computer simulation can't replicate the feeling of battle, to know that your entire life depends on your next draw is a feeling you can understand only after you've taken the life of someone else."

"How many?"  
>"How many what?"<br>"How many lives have you taken because they had a bad draw," he's looking at me perplexingly. "Answer me how many!"

"You actually expect me to remember something as trivial as that, next to Starzan, I'm the best student in the school, I've done assassinations, punishments, and target practice; obviously people die."

"Make your move because I swear it will be one of your last."

"Aw and here I thought we were friends, but if you insist. I summon a moose with some muscle, Phantom Beast Wild-Horn." (ATK: 1700/DEF: 0) (1700-2000)

"My Stratos can defeat your mutant Moose in his sleep."

"Then it's a good thing I'm playing Enemy Controller."

"Chase be careful," says Kai and for good reason.

"Now I can switch your Stratos from attack mode to defense mode. Now Wild-Horn destroy his Stratos, Phantom blade slash, and did I forget the best part, when Wild-Horn destroys a monster by battle the difference is taken straight out of your life points!" (2600-1200)

"My arms," says Vanessa, what kind of a sick bastard can just smile while he forces a girl to believe her body is evaporating?

Chase

"My draw, I set one card face down, switch Lady Heat to defense mode and activate Lady Heat's effect inflicting 200 points of damage to your life points." (600-400)

Mortimer

"Amazing, you've been a real thorn in our side but now I've reduced you to nothing but defense, looks like the plan will go off without a hitch."

"What plan?"

"Well Chase let's just say that by this time tomorrow you nor I will no longer be 2 separate people."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"Doesn't matter, all that matters now is that you will lose to my greatness!"

"Some greatness," starts Damon, "Everyone, stop fearing this guy because he's no more than a closet pervert!"

"Damon I swear if you say what I think you're going to say"-  
>"Well I'm saying it, you all want to know what Mortimer's favorite past time is, using his powers to make himself seem invisible and hiding out in the girls locker room!"<p>

"Wait a minute, Damon are you saying that this guys"-  
>"Damn straight, he's nothing but a peeping tom who takes pictures of naked girls and hands them out to all the other guys!"<p>

That's got Mortimer red- wait a minute just now when Damon was talking I think Vanessa's legs moved, just for a split second, but I swear she moved, maybe that's the key to this guy's power.

"Wild-Horn destroy his Lady Heat."

"Sorry but thanks to my Kuriboh, my damage is 0!" (1200-1200)

"Your Lady Heat is still gone."

"True but thanks to my Hero Signal I can replace my Lady Heat with Elemental Hero Ocean (ATK: 1500/DEF: 1200) in defense mode."

"You're still screwed next turn."

Chase

"My draw, actually I think I'm in good shape, because when Ocean is on the field I can return Elemental Hero Voltic to my hand but he's not going to be alone because next I play Legacy of a Hero! Now since I have 2 level 4 or higher heros in my grave, I draw 3 cards." Perfect, "I play Polymerization allowing me to fuse the water monster on my field with the Elemental Hero in my hand in order to summon Elemental Hero Absolute Zero! (ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000) Now Absolute Zero end this, Freeze at a moment's notice" (400-400)

"Hey shouldn't he have lost points?"

"Normally you'd be right old man but Chase isn't the only one with a card that negates damage, for me it's when I remove from play Thunder-Pegasus during battle with a phantom beast monster."

"I set 1 card face down and end my turn."

Mortimer

"I play Phantom Beast Rebirth allowing me to special summon 1 monster with Phantom Beast in its name and gain life points equal to its ATK points and since Chimera counts as a Phantom beast I can special summon him." (ATK: 2100/DEF: 1800) (2100-2400) (400-2500)

"Even with the attack bonus he's still no match for my Hero."

"He doesn't have to be because I'm sacrificing him in order to summon Phantom Beast Rock-Lizard." (ATK: 2200/DEF: 2000) (ATK: 2200-2500)

"I admit your lizard monster is scary but these 2 are equal."

"Not for long because now I can remove from play Phantom Beast Rebirth, Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast and pay 500 life points (2500-2000) to give 1 Phantom Beast Rock Lizard 200 ATK points (2500-2700) now Rock-Lizard destroy his Absolute Zero, Phantom crusher!" (1200-1000)

"Jokes on you because when Absolute Zero is removed from the field I can destroy every monster you control."

"Actually the ultimate trick is on you because when Rock Lizard is destroyed by a card effect you take 2000 points of damage. Say good bye to your friend."

"You're not taking any lives, not while I have a say in it! I activate the trap card Rainbow Life, now by discarding the last card in my hand I gain the amount of life points you tried to inflict." (1000-3000)

"Nice save."

Chase

Ok so theoretically since I gained most of my life points back Vanessa should have most of her body back, what the hell.

"My life points went up why didn't the barrier around Vanessa go down!"

"When did I ever say that the barrier retracts, it either increases or vanishes completely, now make your move."

"I summon Elemental Hero Burstinatrix (ATK: 1200/DEF: 800) now attack him directly Flare Storm! I end my turn." (2000-800)

Mortimer

"My draw, tell me Vanessa have you had a happy life?"  
>She doesn't answer; what's he up to?<p>

"Because in a few minutes your life will be over, there's not enough of you left for the barrier to cover without shutting down something important, it doesn't matter how many life points Chase has after this move, you die, painfully I might add."

"I told you you're not killing anyone tonight!"

"Well Chase I guess you fail because I play Monster Reborn allowing me to bring back Phantom Beast Rock-Lizard (ATK: 2200/DEF: 2000) (2200-2500) now Rock-Lizard destroy his little lady and end his friend." (3000-1700)

No one is dying tonight!

"Listen Vanessa it's a trick, you saw it with Kai no part of you is missing."

"I can't- breath."

"Listen to me nothing has changed it's a parlor trick."  
>"Oh give up Chase, it's over you failed and your friend has to pay for it."<p>

"Like hell she will!" I've got one shot; I sprint over to the part of the room she's in and grab her hand.

"You see this, I'm holding something, do you see it!"

"Your- not- holding- anything."

"Yes I am, it's your hand, it's just as soft and smooth as it always is, the only reason its cold is because you're falling for his trick and nothing else! Now please, this is your body and your mind, stop letting this son of a bitch play tricks with them!"

She's looking into my eyes and I'm looking into hers, I can see my reflection perfectly, I only hope if she sees hers, that she's sees more than just a hea- Her breathing, its normal, it worked.

"I don't believe this, this is impossible!"

"Oh give up soon she'll regain control over her whole body and there will be nothing stopping me from kicking your ass the old fashioned way."

"I admit your friend has a strong will but she can't hold my powers back forever and with no cards in your hand or on your side of the field I don't think we'll have to wait long at all."

"All right, suit yourself."

Chase

"My draw," well this is an ironic way to win. "Hey Damon do you remember Moretti's riddle?"

"Yeah why?"  
>"Well if I remember correctly you believed the answer to be Batman because there's an Elemental Hero Based on him but you didn't remember the name of that hero."<br>"I still don't."  
>"Well his name is Bubbleman, he's not the strongest hero but when you're in a tight spot there's no one better to have on your side."<p>

"Oh please there isn't a single card in your entire deck that can stop my Rock-Lizard."  
>"Watch and learn! Since there aren't any other cards in my hand I can special summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman (ATK: 800DEF: 1200) and as an added bonus when Bubbleman is summoned and he's the only card on my field I can draw 2 more cards!"

It all comes down to this… perfect.

"I play O-Oversoul allowing me too special summon Elemental Hero Avian (ATK: 1000/DEF: 1000) back from the grave."  
>"2 useless monsters both in ATK mode."<br>"Don't you dare insult my Heros. I summon Turbo Synchron." (Level: 1/ATK: 100/DEF: 500)

"A Tuner in a hero deck?" If Toni thinks that's surprising, wait till she sees this.

Turbo Synchron revved up his engines and shot like a bullet, when he stopped he turned in to a green circular finish line and a dematerialized Bubbleman and Avian flu threw, and in a burst of light, (1+3+4=8) "I Synchro Summon Stardust Dragon!"(ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000)

"Jesus Christ, that's impossible," Kai's shocked.

"I don't know where the hell you got that but it won't do you any good because both our monsters ATK points are equal and like I said you have no cards on the field to change that."

"True Stardust is the only card on my field but I've acquired a considerable amount of cards in my graveyard."

"Your graveyard?"

"You bet, in fact you helped me get the card in my graveyard."

"What card?"

"Remember when you destroyed my Captain Gold and I activated my Skill Successor."

"What good is that gonna do you?"  
>"Simple, starting with the turn after Skill Successor is sent to the graveyard I can remove it from play and increase 1 of my monsters ATK points by 800 (2500-3300) and how many life points do you have again!"<p>

"Oh no please, don't, show a little mercy!"  
>"You were going to kill a 15 year old girl just to bully me into a duel, why should I so mercy but don't worry you'll be alive, well, at least long enough for me to get my hands on you."<p>

"Wait you don't understand if my life points hit 0"-

"Shut up and take it like the Sadistic Bastard you know you are, now Stardust Dragon Cosmic Flare!"

Now I don't know about you guys out there but I don't know of to many sights as awesome as a giant white dragon blasting a hole inside a giant red armored Lizard Centaur thing. (800-0)

Winner: Chase Loser: Mortimer

Vanessa's up so I assume she's back to normal.

"Chase you saved m"-

"Please Head Mistress, please, give me another chance I swear!"  
>"Give it up, the insanity card ain't going to get you out of this."<br>"Chase I think he's serious."  
>"What do you mean Damon?"<br>"Well it's just that I've heard some scary stuff happening when you fail a mission assigned by Ivanov. They say once Ivanov's in your head she's there forever."  
>"Please no, no!"<br>He's fainted, but he doesn't just look asleep, he almost looks lifeless.

"I'll check him," says the old man. He's doing your typical pulse check but he looks spooked, I mean really spooked.

"This boy is dead."

"Impossible, absolutely impossible."

"Like he said whoever loses the duel dies, but I didn't think- I mean even though he did this to me that doesn't mean he deserved to die."

"Well Vanessa I guess if you kill you can't expect anything less than to be killed yourself," I say.

"So what do we do?"

"Well Damon, I don't know. Kai, Toni, you 2 have been awfully quiet; you 2 have any ideas?"

"You have a Stardust Dragon," says Kai.

"I do."  
>"A card that only Yusei Fudo has," says Toni.<br>"I do."

"And you just won a duel using a card in your graveyard," once again says Kai.

"I did."  
>"So what's the plan?" Asks Toni.<p>

"Well I guess we all got to come up with one."

Next Time: "The scary shack at the end of the forest"

"Answer me what have you done with Kai and the others!"

"That's not important, what is important is that I have your next opponent here and she's been waiting for this rematch."


	14. 14 The Scary Shack of the forest

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

By Kevin Jones

Turn 14- The Scary Shack at the end of the Forest

"Saw," a horror movie series that was popular at the beginning of the century. It had about 7 films to it, I think; I'm not a big fan of horror movies but right now it feels like I'm in one.

I should probably start from this morning. Now if you remember correctly last night I broke out of the facility, dueled a guy who can kill people just by looking at them and waving his hand and finally I asked myself what the hell have I gotten myself into.

Surprisingly I had no trouble getting to sleep last night, at about 3 a.m., originally we were all going to rotate who'd keep watch at the door, but don't forget 3 of us did just break out of The Facility. I had fallen asleep kneeling against the front door, Damon was lying on the couch, Kai was on a chair, the old man was in Toni's parent's bedroom and the girls were in Toni's bedroom or at least they were when I dozed off because you see what woke me up was a knock at the door.

"Open up we brought food," said Vanessa.

"How did you 2 get out of here? I've been by the door for hours?"  
>"You sleep like a rock, good thing we weren't attacked again because with you on guard we'd all be dead," obviously that was Toni.<p>

Regrettably I got up and opened the door, the 2 girls were holding bags that smelled like food and I assumed that they got us breakfast.

…

"So where'd your Grandpa go?" Asked Damon as he stuffed a fork full of pancakes into his mouth.

"Not sure, but he told me to keep us here until he got back and that was about an hour ago."

"Well when he gets back we should probably get going," I said.

"Wait a minute did you just say we, as in more than just you," apparently Kai likes sarcasm.

"We have no choice, Ivanov knows about all of us and if we don't stick together will just be picked off one by one, either way, according to Mortimer, something big is going on tonight and I have a bad feeling if someone doesn't do something we may all be in trouble."

"But shouldn't you just call Sector Security?"

"Vanessa you saw the pictures last night so you know that whoever this women is she's been around a long time and she's gotten herself involved in a lot of things. It wouldn't surprise me if she's controlling Sector Security."

"Yeah, but Toni what can we do, were just a bunch of kids and she seems to have been controlling the world before our Grandparents were even conceived"-

"Not true Kai, apparently since my powers are to erase my own memories I don't remember much but I do remember a lot of our preparations going on just for tonight, according to Ivanov all students are going to have their minds fused together."

"Damon what the hell does that mean?"

"Like I said Chase, I don't remember a lot of stuff about what's suppose to happen tonight but what I do remember is that we have to sit in these weird chairs and we can't move, I also remember the layout of the school, so all we have to is"-

"Hello is anyone home?"

"Sounds like my Granddad is back."

Toni went and undid the locks to reveal a happy old guy.

"Ok everyone who's ever going to this Arcadia boarding school tonight come with me."

Since it was my idea, I got up first; followed by Damon, Toni, Vanessa and then "I have a bad feeling about this," Kai said as she stood up.

At first I thought he was going to show us something stupid, I was half right.

Somehow he got this old beat up van, that I think may have been black at one time or another but now had enough rust on it to make it look like a pale sickly brown color, personally what scared me the most was the smell of gasoline. Now in case you don't know, they haven't used gasoline in cars in almost 20 years. Why you may ask, well among other reasons, gasoline explodes.

"Gramps, where on earth did you get this thing?"

"Not hard really, I just visited some friends by the satellite sector; you'd be surprised what you can find around there, I said I needed something that can get me upstate without having to stop at a Momentum charge station and they handed me this 2010 Ford Van."

"This thing won't last long enough to get us to the school, that duel runner we took barely made it."

"Don't worry Chase even though it's from Satellite it'll work just fine."

"You got a problem with Satellite old man?" That started to make me mad, I don't like it when people speak ill of the satellite.

"Listen we don't have time for this; now let's get going," apparently Vanessa doesn't share my feelings towards the Satellite.

…

I was uneasy the whole ride up. Partly because of the fact that were riding in a giant metal bomb, partly because we're going to a school full of sadistic psychics and partly because I don't like being in a confined space. The van is pretty small with Vanessa and the old man in front with the 4 of us all cramped in the back. Either way I like being in confined space not since I was- never mind. Luckily while we drove we were able to come up with the following plan.

Step 1: From what Damon can remember the final part of the plan will commence at exactly midnight and preparation takes about 2 hours, an hour to get everyone in their proper places and then an hour for Ivanov to have all the students "minds fused" so our plan is to sneak into the school at about 11 p.m. which will give us 1 hour before the plan is suppose to be completed.

Step 2: Damon leads us to Ivanov's office where according to him she'll conduct her part of the plan.

Step 3: Figure out what the plan is and stop it.

Step 4: (if we fail) pray to god and kiss our Ass's good bye.

…

"Well I have the building blue prints on my computer. It looks we should be able to sneak in through the back. Chase you said you have a lock pick in your shoe right?"

"Yup, and Damon your shore you know how to get to Ivanov's office right?"

"Don't worry I've been there plenty of times."

"That's what worries me."

"Right; now are you going to say something?"

"Huh?"

"Say something, like a speech."

"Why on earth would I make a speech?"

"Well I read this book on Yugi Moto a few years ago and apparently whenever something dangerous would happen he'd always say like a speech or words of encouragement so everyone around him would feel confident."

"Fine Damon you want me to say something then I'll say something. Are you scared?"

"Heck no," typical Damon response.

"Kai are you scared?"

"Of course not."

"How about you Toni?"

"Hah, if it's a battle through Dueling there's no way I can lose."

"Let me guess Vanessa you're not scared either?"

"Well all I'll be doing is watching Toni's computer, making sure nobody but you guys pop up on the security cameras."

"That wasn't the question, the question is are you scared, I mean after all at about 2 a.m. yesterday morning you almost died."

"Ok maybe I am a little bit scared."

"From what I can see just by looking at your hand trembling, you're a lot scared, which is good because it means you understand the magnitude of the situation?"

"Yeah but how am I suppose to concentrate if I'm scared."

"No one ever said fear is a bad thing because fear will you keep you alert, fear will keep you attentive, even I'm scared because in a situation like this you'd have to be a moron not to be scared."

"Are you calling us all"-

"Yes Toni I am. Now Damon do you want me to say anything else?"

"No, not really."

With that we left Vanessa and the old man to watch Toni's laptop and we snuck in threw a, well.

…

"Were in a sewer!"

"Damon shut up!"

"No Toni you shut up! We're supposed to be Heros like James Bond or Indiana Jones! Tell me when was the last time you saw James Bond in a sewer full of rats and poop!"

"Everyone, according to Toni's computer there should be a door coming up… to your right it says."

"Oh yeah I remember what this door's for, darkness training."

"Damon what on earth is- never mind."

"Chase you don't want to know what I mean"-

"Hence why I didn't ask."

"Good, because we have flash lights and we've got Vanessa talking to us through our Duel Disks but could you guys imagine being stuck in here with no light, all alone and you've got to find your way out and did I mention the crap and the rats."

"Damon, Stop talking, Chase didn't ask, Kai didn't ask and I didn't ask. We get it, we're in a sewer, now shut up!"

That made him quiet. Risking putting my hand in shit I reached down, opened the compartment in my shoe and pulled out my knife/ lock pick/ a lot of other cool devices I don't feel like talking about right now.

"Hey you guys wanna know what just hit me?"

"Shoot Kai," I mostly wanna hear what Kai has to say because up until now the only talking came from Damon complaining.

"You all remember those fairy tales they used to tell us when we were little about evil witches who lived in scary shacks at the end of forests?"

We all nod.

"I think were about to enter one."

Keeping all that in mind, I picked the lock and we all entered into a dark room.

"Where are we?"

"It's a preparation room; the light switch should be over"-

"Damon don't touch that light! Kai, Toni, you guys watch where you walk to, we have no idea what kind of defense mechanisms are in this place."

"Do not worry Mr. Rhodes, I'm not a big fan of gimmicky gadgets."

That voice, its Ivanov.

"As for you Damon, I'd like for you to go to your pod."

"Pod?"

"Of course, think of it like this say good bye to your friends; it is time for you to go to work."

"Damon isn't going anywhere; now show your face you coward!"

"Ah yes little Toni; the little girl whose acting tough solely on the outside."

"How did you know that?"

"I know many things about Toni the tough girl, Kai the snitch, Damon the Virgin and of course Chase the loner and don't try to open communications with the old solider and the innocent child, you won't be able to receive any communications from the outside world because, you see the 4 of you are in my world now and we are going to play by my rules."

With that my flash light suddenly became dark. I was in pitch black and to make matters worse I couldn't hear or feel the others. At that moment I was shore of it, we had fallen into a trap and with no clear way out.

A few minutes later my flash light came back on but everyone else was gone.

"Kai, Toni, Damon!" No answer, at that moment I decided to walk up the stairs and into the actual building.

So far every room shows the same thing, a very disturbing thing but the same thing nun the less. Each room contains exactly 10 pod things. There big and silver and if anything they remind of these virtual reality pods Kaiba Corp made back in the old days. From what I can see, 9 pods have kids in them and the tenth has an adult. Now I've been wandering around this crazy building for about 20 minutes and I've seen kids ranging in these pods from 5 years old to 18 years old. I mean this seems like something you'd see in a cult, the only things missing are a bunch of people with weird tattoos or…

"Debris Dragon are you around here?"

"I'm sorry but your spirit partner won't be joining us tonight."

Ivanov! Where the hell is her voice coming from?

"What did you do to Debris Dragon?"

"Chase my boy, after all this how have you not realized that keeping duel spirits away is easy for people with abilities like us, so how about you try bouncing ideas off me instead of the little lizard."  
>"Sorry but I only chat with people I can see."<p>

"Hey, I am a professional educator so I am obligated to quiz children on things they learn in my presence."

"And from what I've found out you're a former Mayor, judge, cop and a pastry chef."

"I did love baking but that was then and this is now.

Question 1; if this is as you say a "cult" then what is the mark all of my staff and students bare?"

"Puncture marks, that's what Damon meant when he told me about mind fusing. Inside those pods are 3 needles that puncture the back of the neck in just the right spot so it breaks though the spine and to the cord but doesn't risk stabbing the Trachea, then the needles break though the bone and you have access to their nervous systems. Finally you probably put some type of fluid in the wound that heals it quickly, leaving 3 puncture marks on the back of each of your students and faculty members."

"Question 1, correct, now for question 2 name 4 of my students."

"Damon, Abigail Starzan, Mortimer, and Scott Truman."

"Explain."  
>"When I dueled Truman the other day I glanced back at him when he was walking away and noticed the same 3 point puncture mark on his neck. As with most people I didn't think anything of it but if that's not enough for you here's some more. When Scott Truman was speaking at our school he made a comment about how he had no formal duel education, which got Starzan a little mad. Most likely Truman was a student of yours who got out of here and Starzan was assigned to get him back."<p>

"Question 2, correct, next what are my powers?"

"You have telepathy, obviously, mind reading, and mind control."

"Not bad, what I read about you is correct you are a genius, now for the final question; what is the plan and how does it involve the energy created by duels?"

"You're going to have to tell me that one."

"Ahh, what a shame, usually people with I.Q.s around the genius level tend to be able to figure anything out; well that's at least how it works with my students."

"Enough games Ivanov!"

"But I thought you liked me."

"Answer me what have you done with Kai and the others!"

"That's not important, what is important is that I have your next opponent here and she's been waiting for this rematch."

It's Starzan; right in front of me, out of nowhere and she looks just as cold as before only this time I can tell she's angry, really angry.

"Listen we don't have to do this."

"Yes we do!"

"I will leave you 2 alone for a little while."

"Look, I don't know what Ivanov told you but I have a bad feeling something really bad is about to happen."

"That something is going to change the world. Now duel!"

Abigail

"Don't you get it she's using you."

"She's been like a mother to me! Now since you won last time I'm going first. I summon Draw Fox (ATK: 0/DEF: 0) in attack mode."

Chase

Damn it, before she was stone cold but now it seems as if her entire state of mind has been erased and replaced with something else.

"Very well then, first of all because you control a monster and I don't I can special summon Level Warrior (ATK: 300/DEF: 600) as a level 4 monster!"

A tall red power ranger like being has come out, his helmet has 3 shining stars and right now there about as bright as they can get.

"Next I play Brain Control; allowing me to pay 800 life points so I can take control of your Draw Fox." (4000-3200)

"Brain Control only lasts until the end phase."

"True but with the help of Turbo Synchron I don't have to worry about that, now I summon Turbo Synchron and he's going to give the field a little change," (Level: 1/ATK: 100/DEF: 500) Turbo Synchron revved up his engines and shot like a bullet, when he stopped, he turned in to a green circular finish line and a dematerialized, Level Warrior and Draw Fox flew threw and with a burst of light, (1+1+4=6) "I synchro summon Turbo Warrior in attack mode!" (ATK: 2500/DEF: 1500)

Listen to me this is your last chance to surrender."

"Forget it!"

"Ok but you asked for this, now Turbo Warrior, Axel Slash!"

The tall red warrior with the giant claws aimed and went right through Abigail; as usual she didn't even flinch. (4000-1500)

"I end my turn."

Abigail

"My turn, draw! I summon Fox Warrior." (ATK: 900/DEF: 1100)

The tall yellow fox is her ace card and apparently what keeps her powers under control, but considering how week it is and how much time I've got left I may not be able to avoid attacking it.

"Now I play the equip spell Anti-magnet glove now when Fox Warrior declares an attack against a Synchro Monster that Synchro Monster is removed from play, has its Synchro Material Monsters are special summoned in Attack Mode and my attack target is changed to the Tuner Monster; Now Fox Warrior, Fox Xiaolin!"

The fox went towards Turbo Warrior, its big metal glove in front; Turbo Warrior prepared to fight back but found the magnetic pulse launched by the glove overwhelming and in a second was gone. Now in his place are Turbo Synchron (ATK: 100/DEF: 500) and Level Warrior, (ATK: 300/DEF: 600) and since Draw Fox is in Abigail's graveyard it doesn't get summoned to my side of the field.

"And don't forget Fox Warriors special ability; when she attacks she gains 1000 ATK points." (900-1900)

Turbo Synchron tried to flee but the fox was too fast and smashed its head into its bullet shaped body. (3200-1400)

"I set one card face down and end my turn."

Chase

"My draw, I summon Elemental Hero Burstinatrix (ATK: 1200/DEF: 800) in attack mode, now Burstinatrix burn that fox down with Flare Storm!"

"Oh no you don't, I play the trap card Golgotha's Punishment which reduces your Burstinatrix's ATK points by 500." (1200-700)

This isn't good because now with less ATK points Burstinatrix is destroyed instead. (1400-1200) Her entire strategy is based on keeping her Fox Warrior safe by using traps; I got to figure out a way around it.

"I switch Level Warrior to defense mode and throw one card face down and that's it for me."

Abigail

"I summon Tiny Fox (ATK: 440/DEF: 1100) now whenever a Fox monster destroys a monster by battle that monster is removed from play; now Fox Warrior destroy his Level Warrior."

"You're not the only one who has traps, now because you're Fox Warrior gave the beat down to my Level Warrior my Hero Signal allows me to special summon 1 hero from my deck to the field. Now allow me to introduce you to Elemental Hero Wildheart (ATK: 1500/DEF: 1600) but by all means attack with your little stuffed toy, it won't come back but watching it get cut in half will look cool."

"I set 2 cards face down and end my turn."

Chase

"Now Wildheart attack her Fox Warrior, wild slash!"

"Reveal trap card Miraculous Water, now I can destroy your overgrown jungle man!"

"Not quite because you see Wildheart isn't affected by traps so you're Miraculous Water just dried up!"

"Then I activate my second trap Fox target factory, allowing me to equip one Fox Target from my deck straight to my Tiny Fox."

And since Fox Target is a spell card Wildheart switches targets from Fox Warrior to Tiny Fox. (1500-440) Now next turn her Fox Warrior can destroy my Wildheart.

"I place one card face down and end my turn."

Abigail

"Now Fox Warrior attack his Wildheart, fox Xiaolin!"

"Oh no you don't I play the trap Scrap-Iron Scarecrow, negating your attack and setting itself back on the field for next round!"

"Then I'm activating Mystical Space Typhoon destroying your Scarecrow. Now I play the continuous spell card Level Limit-Area B, now all level 4 or higher monsters are switched from attack to defense mode."

Chase

I can't find a way around her spell. Wildheart, a card based on the mighty hunters of the ancient world, will stay in defense mode and won't be able to attack and become the hunted. "My draw," never mind, "I play Polymerization allowing me to fuse the Wildheart on the field with the Elemental Hero Avian in my hand in order to fusion summon Elemental Hero Wild Wingman!" (ATK: 1900/DEF: 2300)

"In defense mode thanks to my Level Limit," she's right; my Wildheart with Avian costume parts has been forced to kneel down with its wings covering its body, but not for much longer.

"I activate Wild Wingman's special ability allowing me to send the last card in my hand to the graveyard to destroy 1 spell or trap on the field, and last time I checked you've only got one."

Wild Wingman's large wing's gusted and destroyed Level Limit- Area B.

Abigail

"My draw, I play the spell card, Pot of Greed."

Uh oh I do not like the smile she's now got on her face.

"Tell me Chase do you remember what the field looked like in our last duel?"

"Yes."

"There was a fall field, I had my Fox Warrior who had 900 ATK points and 1100 DEF points and you had 2 face downs, your Stardust Dragon with 2500 ATK points and 2000 DEF points and your Elemental Hero Stratos with 1800 ATK points and 300 DEF points."

"I know, I was there," Why is she letting her hair down?

"My plan was to attack your Stratos with Fox Warrior but then you used a combo involving your Pixie Ring and Battle Mania, so I didn't get to finish my combo."

"What combo?"

"Oh don't worry you're not only going to see in a minute but your also going to see what my powers can really do."

"I have a bad feeling about this."

"You should because now not only are you going to see my combo you're going to see it just a little bit stronger than before."

Oh shit I'm in trouble.

"Now than I play the equip spell Megamorph, now since my life points are less than yours Fox Warriors ATK points double! (900-1800) Now Fox Warrior take down his Wild Wingman," (1800-2800) Fox Warrior, armed with the large disc that represented Megamorph slashed through Wild Wingman's wings.

"Now that Fox Warrior has destroyed one of your monsters in battle I can special summon the most powerful monster ever created!"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Simple when Fox Warrior destroys a monster at the end of the battle step I can tribute Fox Warrior to summon The Nine-Tailed Fox!" (ATK: ?/DEF: ?)

What in the world is this thing, its overall the same yellow and white color scheme as Fox Warrior but this one is on all 4 legs instead of 2, a bigger body, and 9 large tails.

"Oh and if you think that's interesting just wait till you see this, my fox's ATK and DEF points are the combined amount of Fox Warrior and Wild Wingman's original ATK and DEF points!" (ATK: 2800/DEF: 3400)

2800 ATK points, and I can already feel the pulsations being admitted from Abigail's body, and I don't have a single card on the field or in my hand.

Next Time: Assault Mode Activate

"So I take it since you already know there's no way to get passed my Nine-Tailed Fox's ATK points and next turn his effect will make your life points hit 0 no matter how high you make them it looks like the only reason you summoned your Stardust was so you could die with your favorite monster."


	15. 15 Assault Mode Activate

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

By Kevin Jones

Turn 15- Assault Mode Activate

Abigail

"My draw, I play the spell card, Pot of Greed."

Uh oh I do not like the smile she's now got on her face.

"Tell me Chase do you remember what the field looked like in our last duel?"

"Yes."

"There was a fall field, I had my Fox Warrior who had 900 ATK points and 1100 DEF points and you had 2 face downs, your Stardust Dragon with 2500 ATK points and 2000 DEF points and your Elemental Hero Stratos with 1800 ATK points and 300 DEF points."

"I know, I was there," Why is she letting her hair down?

"My plan was to attack your Stratos with Fox Warrior but then you used a combo involving your Pixie Ring and Battle Mania, so I didn't get to finish my combo."

"What combo?"

"Oh don't worry you're not only going to see in a minute but your also going to see what my powers can really do."

"I have a bad feeling about this."

"You should because now not only are you going to see my combo you're going to see it just a little bit stronger than before."

Oh shit I'm in trouble.

"Now than I play the equip spell Megamorph, now since my life points are less than yours Fox Warriors ATK points double! (900-1800) Now Fox Warrior take down his Wild Wingman," (1800-2800) Fox Warrior, armed with the large disc that represented Megamorph slashed through Wild Wingman's wings.

"Now that Fox Warrior has destroyed one of your monsters in battle I can special summon the most powerful monster ever created!"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Simple when Fox Warrior destroys a monster at the end of the battle step I can tribute Fox Warrior to summon The Nine-Tailed Fox!" (ATK: ?/DEF: ?)

What in the world is this thing, its overall the same yellow and white color scheme as Fox Warrior but this one is on all 4 legs instead of 2, a bigger body, and 9 large tails.

"Oh and if you think that's interesting just wait till you see this, my fox's ATK and DEF points are the combined amount of Fox Warrior and Wild Wingman's original ATK and DEF points!" (ATK: 2800/DEF: 3400)

2800 ATK points, and I can already feel the pulsations being admitted from Abigail's body, and I don't have a single card on the field or in my hand.

"Now Nine-Tailed Fox, attack him directly Fox cures attack!"

Damn it I was hoping I could save this for later.

"I remove from play the Necro Gardna I discarded last turn in order to negate your attack!"

Even though a ghostly image of my Gardna has stopped her fox in its tracks I can still feel the energy being emitted from it like a baseball to the head. It would appear where as Fox Warrior suppressed her power Nine-Tailed Fox actually helps her focus it, which means I have a bad feeling this duel is going to hurt.

Chase

"Now it's my turn to ask you to surrender," she says.

"Even if I said yes would you let me?"

"No but I've always liked watching all hope being erased from someone's eyes."

"Kid let me tell you something another Elemental Hero duelist once told me, a duel ain't over till the lat card is played," yes, "and with this draw this duel ain't over just yet. Now because it's the only card in my hand I can special summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman (ATK: 800/DEF: 1200) also when Bubbleman is summoned and he's the only card on my field I can draw 2 more.

Next I play Fusion Recovery allowing me to add 1 polymerization and a Fusion Material Monster from my graveyard to my hand.

Now it's time for some more fusion because now I combine the Elemental Hero Avian I just got back with the Elemental Hero Bubbleman on the field in order to summon Elemental Hero Mariner!" (ATK: 1400/DEF: 1000)

Now I admit a tall green man with rock star hair and tiny anchors for weapons isn't that menacing but his effect is what's going to win me this.

"Now I set one card face down and thanks to my Mariner's special ability since I have a set card he can attack you directly, now anchors aweigh!(440-440) Hey why didn't your life points go down?"

"One of my Nine-Tailed Fox's many effects. While it remains face up on the field I take no battle damage, unfortunately you do."

Abigail

"First things first, now that it's my standby phase I can activate Nine-Tailed Fox most devastating effect."

"I should be scared shouldn't I?"

"Completely because now I pay half my life points," (440-220) now the fox's furthermost left tail is up and on fire, "now during both of our standby phases Nine tailed Fox will gain 1 Fox Counter and for each lit tail on Nine-Tailed Fox's rear end it will gain 500 ATK points." (2800-3300)

"But why increase its ATK points if it's 1 attack from wiping out all my life points?"

"I'm not an idiot, I know your skill level and I know your face down is probably something to counter my fox. Luckily Nine-Tailed Fox can't be destroyed by trap cards so if it's something like Sakuretsu Armor that's now useless, but that also opens the door for a card that will increase or decrease ATK points like Shrink, so by increasing the ATK points of my Fox to more than twice the amount of your Mariner I can erase the worst case scenario and that's either halving or doubling our respective monsters ATK points, also once all 9 of my Fox's tails are lit I can remove all 9 fox counters and inflict damage equal to what Nine-Tailed Fox's ATK points were when the final counter was placed. Now Nine-Tailed Fox show his hero your dark powers, Fox curse attack!"

The large fox attacked and the amount of energy its releasing has me against the wall but luckily my life points are still here. (1400-450)

"You covered all the bases, you have a monster that can't be destroyed by traps and its attack points are now to high for any decrease or increase to work with the field the way it is but you did forget 1 thing."

"What's that?"  
>"I changed the amount of damage I received."<p>

"How?"

"Hero's Guard, this card allows me to make Mariner indestructible through battle."

"That still doesn't explain why you still have life points!"

"Also by removing from play Elemental Hero Burstinatrix I can halve the battle damage and draw 1 card."

"I set one card face down and end my turn, now make your last move."

Chase

"My draw, I summon the Tuner Monster Tune Warrior."(ATK: 1600/DEF: 200)

"What good is a normal monster going to do you because in case you forgot Nine-Tailed Fox just got another 500 ATK points?" (3300-3800)

"He may be normal and he may look like he's made out of a radio but this guys going to win this for me. Now I tune my level 3 Tune Warrior with my level 5 Elemental Hero Mariner in order to synchro summon," Tune Warrior's dials all turned straight as he jumps into the air and dematerializes into 3 large green rings, Mariner's now jumping towards the rings, dematerializing and being replaced by 5 shining stars; the 5 stars and the 3 rings fashioned themselves perfectly and in a burst of light, "I synchro summon Stardust Dragon!" (ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000)

"What good is your overgrown lizard going to do you?"

"Simple, because in case you forgot my Hero's Guard allowed me to draw a card and I'm going to activate it now! I play Battle Tuned which allows me to remove Tune Warrior from play and increase Stardust Dragon's ATK points by my warriors, (2500-4100) that's what good about my normal Tuner monster did me; now Stardust Dragon Cosmic Flare on Nine-Tailed Fox!"

"Sorry but you walked right into a trap! I play phase divided by 2."

"What does that do?"

"Simple by activating this trap I can instantly end this phase of your turn so long as I skip the same phase during my turn."

"I end."

Abigail

"Now Nine-Tailed gains 500 ATK points (3800-4300) unfortunately due to the effect of Phase Divided by 2 I can't attack this turn."

"You don't have to attack next turn either."

"Why's that?"

Listen I didn't come here to duel you, in fact one of the reasons I came was to bring you back to your mother."  
>"As far as I'm concerned, Principal Ivanov is my mother."<p>

"No I mean your birth mother."

"As far as I'm concerned that drunken whore has nothing do with me!" Now she's angry.

"Let me guess Ivanov told you all that?"

"That's right and what she hasn't told me I remember. She didn't care about me and she denied I even existed."

"Do you actually believe that or is that what Ivanov wants you to believe?"

"Make your move!"

Chase

"My draw, (4300-4800) I play Legacy of a Hero allowing me to draw 3 cards because I have 2 level 4 or higher Elemental Heros in my Graveyard."

Damn it, there's only 1 monster in my deck that can help me right now, but the summoning conditions make it almost impossible to get it out. Hell to be honest I'm not entirely sure why I even chose to bring it with me, but right now I've just got to hold off until I draw the card needed to summon it.

"I summon Elemental Hero Clayman (ATK: 800/DEF: 2000) in defense mode, next I set 1 card face down and end my turn."

Abigail

"I know you're baiting me but in case you forgot Nine-Tailed Fox can't be destroyed by traps. Now watch as another one of my fox's tails lights up; (4800-5300) now Nine-Tailed Fox destroy his dragon!"

"Oh no you don't I play a trap!"

"Weren't you listening Nine-Tailed Fox can't be destroyed by battle!"

"True but I can use my Defender Hero to switch your attack target from Stardust to Clayman and since he's in defense mode this duel is still on."

Chase

Alright this should by me some time. (5300-5800)

"I play Swords of Revealing Light."

"What's with the glow in the dark kitchen knives?"

"Simple now your Light up Fox can't attack for another 3 turns."

Abigail

"Those 3 turns end now (5800-6300) I play Heavy Storm which destroys every spell and trap card on the field."

"My swords are staying I activate Stardust Dragon's special ability, I tribute him in order to stop your Heavy Storm!"

"I end."

"This allows Stardust Dragon to comeback; this little trick is formally known as Victim's Sanctuary."

Chase

"My draw," this is it if I can't draw the right card now then this duel, and what appears to be the world is over… No this isn't it, even if I had another turn I drew the monster itself and once it's in my hand I can't use it… (6300-6800)Wait a minute this other card, from before when I used Legacy of a Hero, it's a gamble, and the chances of it actually working are 1 in 40, oh god there's no way it'll work.

"It will work."

"Debris Dragon, but how, Ivanov said that duel spirits can't get into the school."

"Hah, there's no way a bunch of mediocre psychics can keep me away."

"You found a small gap in the energy field and flew threw it, didn't you?"

"Yes, but that's not the point, now why are you nervous."

"I'm not nervous."

"Then why is your hand shaking."

"It's not, it's all the… it's all the energy she's releasing brushing against me."

"No it isn't, you're scared like a little kid even though you still have 1 possible shot of drawing what you need."

"I'm not scared!"

"Then make your move."

"Fine then; I play Magical Mallet now I shuffle the last card in my hand back into my deck and draw a new card in its place," there's no way, there's just no way.

"See I told you that you could do it."

"I set one card face down and end my turn."

"So I take it since you already know there's no way to get passed my Nine-Tailed Fox's ATK points and next turn his effect will make your life points hit 0 no matter how high you make them it looks like the only reason you summoned your Stardust was so you could die with your favorite monster."

"We'll see about that."

Abigail

"Well it's been real Mr. Chase Rhodes but this duel is over." (6800-7300)

"Chain trap card!"

"You've got nothing."

"Actually I do, do you remember what Ivanov did after your little "episode" the other day."

"She brought me back here."

"She did something before that, she bribed me to keep my mouth shut, I kept the bribe but came here anyway."

"A little money won't help you here."

"She didn't give me money, she gave me a card, an impossible a card and with the power of this card I'm going to defeat you, stop Ivanov and then bring you back to your Mother."

"There isn't a single card in the world that can do all that."

"Look at the hologram. I play the trap card Assault Mode Activate now I tribute Stardust Dragon in order to summon Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode!" (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500)

"That's impossible, including yours there are only 2 Stardust Dragons on the face of the planet and you don't have any connections so there's no way you could get yours a support card!"

"That's because Ivanov made it. At first I couldn't understand why, and I'm still not sure how, but the minute I saw that Nine-Tailed Fox I realized that you and me both are just puppets in Ivanov's plan. For you it started almost 2 years ago when Ivanov took advantage of your scared Mother and for me it started about a week ago when I came close to beating Scott Truman."

"You're lying, you hear me, lying! Ms. Ivanov has treated me like a daughter where as that women just saw me as a mistake!"

"Ivanov has lied to you, when I met your mother she was a mess because she was tormented by the fact that she let her daughter go to a psychopath."

"You lie and I'm going to make you stop lying! Now because Nine-Tailed Fox has its maximum amount of Fox Counters on it I can remove them all to inflict damage to your life points equal to what Nine-Tailed Fox's ATK points were when the final counter was placed on it, now Nine Tails hell!"

The 9 brightly burning tails all went out at once as the energy in the room reaches maximum, I can even feel it as the shadow energy around me thickens, but I'm not afraid of this beast not anymore.

"I activate the effect of Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode, now I can tribute it in order to negate the activation of your Nine Tails Hell!"

As the burst of energy is released from Nine-Tails Fox, my big blue Armored Dragon explodes into a thousand tiny stars that are not only forcing the blast back they are also rapping themselves around the fox and are now smothering it.

"You, you"-

"It looks like you're done."

Chase

"Now Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode attack her directly, Assault Cosmic Burst," (220-0) it's over, now there's only one last piece-

Winner: Chase Loser: Abigail

Her powers are out of control again, oh god right now the only thing keeping me from flying away is me holding on tight to a damn stair well. This answers my last question, why can she control her power while her Fox Warrior or Nine-Tailed Fox are on the field but the minute there gone she loses complete control? Because her 2 foxes actually absorb her energy, Ivanov hasn't been training her whatsoever all she's been doing is draining her energy, maybe that Assault Mode monster I just used does the same thing to me that Nine-Tailed Fox does to her, oh man Vanessa was right I have no idea what I've gotten myself into… Wait a minute that's it. Right now it looks like her emotions control her power so I've got to calm her down, and that's something Vanessa would probably know how to do; after all what've have I got to lose, well my balls but if I can't stop her soon I'm going lose those, and the rest of me while I'm at it, anyways.

"Listen I understand how you feel."

"No you don't, you're just a spoiled school boy, with some rare cards!"

Good, even though she's physically out of control her brain is still functioning as opposed to last time where she became a blank slate.

"At first you didn't know what to feel, no dad, moms never around, and you had to deny all of it so eventually you became more and more alone until eventually you just found it easier to give up on everyone around you, but because of your fear of your own powers you became dependent on Ivanov but I bet you don't have a single friend your own age at this place."

"How on earth could you know any of that!"

This is good, the energy being thrown out of her is substantially less than before I'm still a goner if I can't calm her down, I've only got one last option, but still I don't know if I can do this, I've only ever told this to a couple of people before.

"Listen I understand how you feel, more than you know!"

"How's that?"

"Because my parents are dead, dead for a long time and I was told to keep it a secret as well, but you still have your own mother, and I admit she probably sucked but from what I've seen she's begging for a second chance, give it to her."

It's dying down and I'm able to let go of the stair well.

"It's ok I'm going to bring you home."

She's looking into my eyes, I've got to keep a straight face otherwise she may not believe me.

"I, I, I, I want my mom."

The energy is gone, and I catch as she falls down from all the stress. I can hear her cry as she barriers her face deep into my jacket.

"Listen I'm going to bring you home ok, but right now I need to stop Ivanov, do you know what she's doing?"

"No, nobody knows, all we know is that when it's all over there will be no judging, no social class, and no secrets, but now I don't know if she just means what the world will be like under her control or something."

"Don't worry I'm going to stop her, now is that her office back there?"

She lifts her head off my leather jacket and with her face covered in tears nods.

"Stay right here ok, I'm going to stop her."

"Be careful, in the time I've been here I've never seen her lose control of a duel."

"Don't worry I know how to stop control freaks."

Next Time: Becoming God

"Where are the others!"

"Apparently you're not interested in chit-chat. Very well then, bring in the prisoners."

"No that's impossible!"


	16. 16 Becoming God

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

By Kevin Jones

Turn 16- Becoming God

A tall dark haired man with equally as dark eyes is sitting in a large dark room staring at Monitors; right now he has nothing else to do anyways.

He's spent months watching The Arcadia Boarding School and what little evidence he's been able to dig up seems to point to something big happening tonight. Unfortunately he's spent the better part of a year trying to get his superiors to give him a search warrant but apparently naming your school after a former cult, having no real past, and having no consistency in getting students is all circumstantial, so he's spent the better part of 2 days with the entire area wired with video cameras, microphones, all of which were put in place by his undercover agent who told him "I'll do it sir but after being here for a month I've found nothing of suspicion." This to him meant nothing because he's been investigating a school full of people with mind control powers.  
>"Sir I think it might be time for you to call it a night, I'll watch the cameras."<br>He lifts his drooping head up to look at the women at the other end of the room.  
>"Thanks but no thanks this is my case and I'm going to see it to the end."<br>"With all due respect sir, there doesn't seem to be anything suspicious going on at this school."  
>"That's because Turner's gone crooked."<br>"And what gives you that idea?"  
>"She hasn't reported back even though I specifically told her to phone in once an hour."<br>"She's probably sleeping, it's a quarter to twelve."  
>"Listen all the evidence we've uncovered points to something big happening tonight, she knows that we need her to be awake now more than ever."<br>"Well has anything interesting happened tonight?"  
>"Actually yes."<br>"What?"  
>"About an hour ago there was a van parked about half a mile away. At first I thought it was nothing but I couldn't help but be curious so I started watching them.<p>

At first there were 6 people; 3 teenage boys, 2 teenage girls, and an old man. They were all looking at the one girl's laptop and then she and everyone except for the other girl and the old man stayed behind. Now from what I could tell from looking at some of the other tapes I think these kids snuck into to the school through the sewer pipe that runs under it and are now doing what we should be doing."  
>The woman walked over next to the man, she scanned the monitors with her hazel colored eyes, placed her hand on the back of her blond head and had one question to ask.<br>"Where's the van now?"  
>The man is quiet as he scratches layer of fuzz on his round face.<br>"I dozed off and missed that part."  
>"Well then, now what's your plan sir?"<br>"At this point, it looks like the best thing to do is hope these kids have everything under control."

…

About a week ago, I dueled a young girl who had powers beyond which even most Syfy channel writers can conceive. Between then and now I've been chased, attacked, drowned, held against my will, traveled up and down New York State, been manipulated by psychics, jailed and almost torn apart by a swirling energy tornado and that last 1 was about a minute ago. The worst part of it all is that I've dragged innocent lives into all this. People who should have nothing to do with this are now most likely hostages to a sociopath who seems to be one level below God, I can only hope there all right and that my deck is strong enough stop Ivanov.  
>"Make sure you knock first." Obviously I hear this from nowhere, but I guess I'll cooperate and knock.<br>"Good, good, you may come in."  
>I look back to give a still scared Abigail a nod as I open the door and walk through.<br>"Don't try turning the lights on they don't work."  
>"Are you actually here or are you somewhere else?"<br>"Oh no I'm here but for now I feel the best thing to do is to keep myself a secret."  
>"Out of the dozens of young faces you've had over the past 80 years why do you chose now to hide yourself pitch black darkness?"<br>"I have my reasons, now then, you are in very big trouble."  
>"Whys that?"<br>"You stopped the Nine-Tailed Fox before it had absorbed enough of Abigail's shadow energy and to make matters worse you didn't have Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode on the field long enough to even tap into to your power."  
>"So for the plan you need shadow Energy?"<br>"Of course... wait a minute do you not know what the shadow realm is?"  
>"I'm going to take a shot in the dark and assume it's in Russia, Siberia or where ever the hell you're from."<br>"Well your half right but I'll get into that later, but someone with your power needs to know about the shadow realm, now listen closely because you are about to receive the final lesson anyone on this planet will ever receive."  
>"Enough! You've been toying with innocent lives long enough and I demand to know what you did with Kai, Damon and Toni!"<br>"You have an impossible card, more power than all of those 3 combined, and have personally witnessed Shadow energy in its purist form and you don't want to know where it all came from?"  
>"Where are the others!"<br>"Apparently you're not interested in chit-chat. Very well then, bring in the prisoners."  
>"No, that's impossible!"<br>A light is on several feet away, which tells me how big this room is. Damon, Kai, Toni, and the old man are tied by the hands and feet via strips of metal to chairs with Vanessa standing next to them.  
>"Fine if you don't want a lesson I'll continue your test from before. Next question why is Vanessa Aaronson the one helping me keep your friends captured."<br>This isn't making sense, Vanessa wouldn't do something like this, it doesn't even look like she's in control of her actions, I mean she almost... Oh no.  
>"It can't be, you, you, couldn't have, when did you get the chance?"<br>"Get off the floor Mr. Rhodes and give me an answer."  
>"How on earth did you do it?"<br>"How on earth did I do what?"  
>"Your controlling Vanessa's mind, you've had control over her ever since we left your school the other day."<br>"Good, good-"  
>"What have you done to my granddaughter you monster!"<br>"Now, now Mr. Aaronson this is Chase's test, I can't give him the answers but if you like, Chase can give everyone the play by play of the game we've been playing."  
>"Damon was a bluff; you needed something to keep me from wondering about why you looked so intensely at Vanessa and what better distraction than someone who'd be an obvious spy.<br>"Correct, Damon really can't alter people's memories but I can. In reality, Damon was no more than the distraction. Vanessa was real watch girl. Threw her I was able to call your Millay friend and get her to come to central park and distract you all while I rounded up some fellow cops to get you, then when she and Ms. Toni went to free you out of the facility but couldn't hack the system I did it for them. I had Mortimer place Damon in the correct spot so you would find him that morning and then I had him attack you when the time was right, and now, here you are."  
>"What about Sadusky and that other security agent?"<br>"I had Sadusky out there all night waiting for you and O'Hara will do anything I ask, after all I have my seed in him."  
>"Seed?"<br>"My apologizes, I forgot to explain what my true power is."  
>"What do you mean your true power?"<br>"Before when I made you list my powers you were almost right but you missed the big picture."  
>"Oh yeah and what's that?"<br>"My true power is to put a small piece of my consciousness into another possible vessel. It could be a tree, a piece a scrap metal or a lot of times a person. All I have to do is concentrate and I can place a small piece of myself, a seed if you will, into another vessel. I then have all the ability's and possibilities of the vessel while still keeping control of my own body allowing me to control 2 body's at once."  
>"So Vanessa hasn't actually said nor done anything threw all of this, it's just been you pretending to be her!"<br>"Not quite, up until now the only things I've needed are her eyes and ears, after all hijacking her brain would've taken time and energy and I've needed to keep all my energy saved for the plan."  
>"What the hell is the plan!"<br>"Still haven't figured it out have you, oh well, since were at Armageddon I might as well tell you. In exactly 15 minutes it will be midnight. Once a year for a 10 second period my power can be fully realized, this allows me to place multiple seeds in multiple people, but I can only get a couple dozen at once and at that I'm usually so warn out after words the seeds either take forever to grow or just fade away, so for almost 30 years now I've been absorbing shadow energy from people so that 1 day I'd have enough power to place a seed inside the mind of every human being on the planet."  
>"Your insane!"<br>"Your probably right, but my mission must continue, even if I have completely lost my mind."

"What mission?"  
>"Tell me Mr. Rhodes have you ever heard of The Soviet Union?"<br>"Yeah, in a history book."  
>"Of course, after all I am all that's left of it."<br>"But how could you have lived this long?"  
>"I cannot give you those answers, well, at least like this."<br>"What's that suppose to mean?"  
>"Simple, even if we had all night I would not be able to explain to you what I am, so you and I are going to play a shadow game or a duel as its referred to now a days; in this duel every time a monster attacks you will feel it and it will hurt, through this you will learn about the shadow realm."<br>"Not a chance, I know that the minute you absorb enough energy you'll just stole until time runs out."  
>"Lesson 1 about shadow games I cannot activate my powers while one is going on."<br>"Either way I'm not risking it."  
>"I had a feeling you'd say that. Vanessa if you please."<br>Another light has just turned on next to where Vanessa is. It looks like a table with something black on it... wait a minute she's picking it up… it's a gun! Oh crap and she's pointing it at me!  
>"Here is the situation or here are the situations, we are going to play a shadow game and if you refuse Vanessa will either shoot you," now Vanessa moves the gun towards the others, "1 of them," now she has it pressed up against the side of her head, "or herself, so what is it going to be, your friend shoots her brains out or you fight and possibly stop anybody else from being killed by me and by the way if I think for 10 seconds that you are stalling Vanessa will pull that trigger, you can hold me to that."<br>Damn it, what do I do, all I have to do to stop Ivanov is run away, but if I do that then god knows what happens to everyone else, and if I leave now I know she'll just come after me later, but if I duel then she could get all the power she needs and if I lose I may not walk out of here.  
>"Chose, Mr. Rhodes."<br>"Very well then, you want to duel lets duel!"  
>Chase<br>"The first move goes to the visitor."  
>"Fine by me, my draw! I summon Elemental Hero Woodsman (ATK: 1000DEF: 2000) in defense mode, next I'll set 1 card face down and end my turn.  
>Ivanov<br>"2000 DEF points, you aren't afraid are you?"  
>"Me, you're the one who's afraid to show me your face!"<br>"Don't you get it; darkness like this is what started this game but if you'd like something more authentic I can give you that. I play the Field Spell "The Shadow Realm"!"  
>The darkness feels different now, before I was just afraid but now there's something sinister in the air, it's still pitch black but now even the light that was on everyone else is gone.<br>"What kind of Field Spell is this?"  
>"All in due time Mr. Rhodes, all in due time but for now I summon Calm, Silent Gusta (ATK: 1700DEF: 1100) in ATK mode, next I set 1 card face down and end my turn."  
>Chase<br>"My draw, now allow me to show you just how afraid I am because now since its' my standby phase Elemental Hero Woodsman allows me to add 1 Polymerization from my deck straight to my hand! Now I'm going to activate it-"  
>"Actually you can't."<br>What the, the hologram image of my card just set itself face down.  
>"The effect of The Shadow Realm, all spell cards have to be set before they can be activated, if you chose to activate them without setting them there activation will be negated and they will set on to the field, now do you have anything else to play?"<br>"I set 1 card face down and it's back to you."  
>Ivanov<br>"Shame, I thought someone like you would've been able to defeat a little green haired girl with a big stick."  
>"Your green haired girl still can't get past my 2000 DEF point, giant green guy."<br>"True but this can; I summon Armored Axon Kicker (ATK: 2200/DEF: 1800) in attack mode!"  
>"You'd have to tribute your Calm to summon that!"<br>"Apparently you don't know much about Psychic type monsters, if I control a face-up Psychic Monster I can summon this card without tribute, now Armored Axon Kicker destroy his Woodsman, Axon Slam!"  
>Oh crap this thing is big purple and has some kind of green liquid flowing through its body, and it just left me wide open for a direct attack.<br>"Now Calm, Silent Gusta attack him directly, Gusta Burst!"  
>"Ah!" That attack, I could feel the wind as it was released from her monsters staff and it actually lifted me off my feet and has me against the wall. (4000-2300)<br>"I'll set 1 more card face down and end my turn."  
>Chase<br>"My draw," ah man what do I do, she has 2 face downs and 2 strong monsters on the field, the only move I have in mind is risky, but if I don't try something I'm as good as dead, literally.  
>"I summon Elemental Hero Ocean (ATK: 1500DEF: 1200) in attack mode."  
>"Just because he has a nicer staff doesn't mean he's any stronger than either of my monsters."<br>"Maybe so which is why I'm about to give something else, I reveal my face down card Fighting Spirit, which gives Elemental Hero Ocean 300 ATK points for every monster you control (1500-2100) now Ocean attack her Gusta with Deep Sea slash!"  
>Ocean went at the green haired woman with his staff but the Gusta quick as can be blocked the sharp ends with her staff. The 2 are struggling both holding the other back with equal strength. Ocean pushes forward just by only an inch and the green haired woman's staff snaps in 2 before she vanishes. (4000-3500) (2100-1800)<br>"Well it looks like you are now on the offensive."  
>"Thank you, I throw down a face down and call it a turn."<br>Ivanov  
>"Interesting strategy but it has only allowed you to defeat my Gusta, mean while, I still have my Axon Kicker as well as this new monster, I summon Psychic Commander (Level: 3ATK: 1400/DEF: 800) next I reveal my face down card, Monster Reborn allowing me to special summon Calm, The Silent Gusta (Level: 4) from my graveyard."  
>"Now My Ocean's the strongest monster on the field." (1800-2400)<br>"Very true but now I tune my Psychic Commander with my Calm, the Silent Gusta," The 4 eyed man in the flying saucer flew up in the air and dematerialized in to 3 green rings, the rings then lowered themselves down over a now Dematerialized Gusta and while giving off a feeling of evil, (3+4=7) "I synchro summon Daigusta Eagles!" (ATK: 2600/DEF: 1800) (2400-2100)  
>A large Green armored Eagle with a man on its back now towers over the field and it's aiming for my Ocean.<br>"Now Gusta Eagles destroy his Ocean, psychic flying Gust!"  
>Now I'm in the air heading for the wall again, but I got to keep Ocean on the field. (2300-2100)<br>"I destroy Fighting Spirit, (2100-1500) keeping Ocean on the field."  
>"Only to be defeated by Armored Axon Kicker, now Axon Slam!" (2100-1400)<br>"Reveal trap Card! Hero Counterattack, now you select 1 card in my hand and if it's an Elemental Hero I can destroy 1 of your monsters and special summon it."  
>"You forget I'm Psychic, even though I can't use any of my powers during a Duel this is a situation where I can use 1 or 2... wait a minute why are your eyes closed?"<br>My Counterattack begins now!  
>"Remember when your overgrown green chicken's wind storm threw me across the room a minute ago, well when it did that I dropped my cards, when I hit the floor I picked them up, only I closed my eyes so I wouldn't see what order I picked them up in leaving your guess as good as mine."<br>"You tricked me!"  
>"You tricked me first, now make your move but you better think twice before you chose."<br>Even though I can't see anything I can just imagine the angry look on her face.  
>"The 1 on the far right."<br>Time to open my eyes... "Wrong choice, I summon The Elemental Hero, Burstinatrix (ATK: 1200/DEF: 800) now it's time for her to fry that chicken!"  
>In cased in a large fire ball, the hero of fire flew towards the large Eagle and set it ablaze.<br>"I set 1 card face down and end my turn, but be warned your hero doesn't stand a chance against my Kicker."  
>Chase<br>Maybe not but apparently you forgot about the card your little shadow trick made me set. I play Polymerization, fusing The Elemental Hero Burstinatrix on my Field with the Earth Attribute Quillbolt Hedgehog in my hand in order to fusion summon Elemental Hero Gaia." (ATK: 2200/DEF: 2600)  
>"There ATK points are equal."<br>"Some psychic, you can't even tell what my Gaia's effect is."  
>"What's tha- wait a minute why is my monsters points going down?"<br>"Simple when Gaia is fusion summoned I select 1 face-up monster you control, halve its ATK points and give those points to Gaia, (2200-1100) (2200-3300) Now Gaia Continent Hammer!"  
>My large black hero tightened his fist and swung his giant armored arms at Axon Kicker ending that problem and taking a serious chunk out of Ivanov's life points. (3500-1300)<br>"I can tell just by looking at it that those points are not going to last past this turn."  
>"True, so I'm going to set 1 card face down and end my turn."<br>Ivanov  
>"Not bad, not bad at all, I can see how you were able to beat Sadusky, O'Hara, Mortimer, and Abigail."<br>"And I can see that your completely insane."  
>"Just because you are in the lead does not give you the right to mouth off. I summon Grapple Blocker (ATK: 1200DEF: 2000) in defense mode."  
>What the, her large Masked wrestler with Octopus tentacles has those tentacles wrapped around my Gaia.<br>"When I summon this monster I select 1 monster you control, now that monster, AKA your Gaia, can't declare an Attack or be tributed so long as I pay 500 life points during my End phase."  
>"Keep that up and you won't have any life points left in a few turns."<br>"That is why I set this card last turn, I play Psychic Rejuvenation now I gain 1000 life points for each Psychic type monster I control (1300-2300) next I set 1 card face down." (2300-1800)  
>Chase<br>"My draw," There ain't a whole lot I can do, with 2000 DEF points and with my Gaia is ensnared, I don't have a whole lot of moves, but this will at least get Gaia free. "I set 1 card face down and end my turn."  
>Ivanov<br>"Tell me is it getting to you?"  
>"Is what getting to me?"<br>"All this, you are dueling in complete darkness, alone, and with no way out."  
>"Cut the crap you're nothing but a freak who's trying to become God."<br>"Oh no Mr. Rhodes soon I will be God, because soon I will defeat you and have all the power I need."  
>"Not quite, I activate my trap Battle Mania!"<br>"What?"  
>"Wait don't you remember? I used this to beat Abigail the first time and now it's going to help me beat you because now your Grapple Blocker is switched to attack mode and has to attack me this turn!"<br>"Not if he's gone first! I play the trap card Mind over Matter! Now I negate the activation of your Battle Mania and destroy it at the cost of my Grapple Blocker."  
>"Looks like My Gaia's free."<br>"Free only to die. I reveal my face down card, Teleport, now while you control a monster and I don't I can 800 life points to special summon a psychic monster from my hand. (1800-1000) Now allow me to introduce you to Master Gig, (ATK: 2600/DEF: 1400) in attack mode, now Master Gig destroy his Gaia!"  
>A man in some type of containment orb with spikes in it, is releases a large volt of lightning from its center destroying my Gaia (1400-1200) and leaving me wide open for a direct attack.<br>"There now do you doubt me, now do you doubt that I merely want to be God or that I am destined to become God!"  
>Chase<br>"I know you'd a gullible god."  
>"What do you mean, thanks to the darkness of my Field Spell you have had to delay every single turn, you are defenseless and your life points can easily be picked off when I summon my next monster."<br>"The key word there is darkness because at the end of the day you're no more than the Bogeyman, hiding behind darkness so you can torture the mind of a small child when in reality your just the moans and groans of an old house, and all your power leaves you the minute that child learns to turn on the light, and I'm turning that light on right now with the help of the Elemental Hero Sparkman!" (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1400)  
>Now I know what you're all thinking; Even with his cool golden torso armor, glass helmet over his head and weird black wing like things he's not strong enough but I'm-<br>"He can't get passed my Master Gig!"  
>Apparently she's thinking that as well.<br>"Remember the card I set 2 turns ago, well guess what it's a spell, but not just any spell, it's a Field Spell and since there can only be 1 Field Spell in play at a time, my Skyscraper card is turning on the lights!"  
>All right it looks like my tall Buildings are replacing her shadows and it looks like while she had me in the shadows the lights in this stadium turned on as well.<br>"You think bringing New York City into to my Duel Training room will save you, well guess what even with the 1000 point boost your Sparkman's ATK points will be the same as my Gig's and your life points are too low to risk a tie."  
>"I'm not; now since your Shadow Realm Field Spell is gone I can play spell cards straight from my hand so I'm going to play Hero Pressure which reduces your Master Gig's ATK points by 300 for every Hero on my field and even though that's only 1 it's still enough to be taken down by Sparkman when he gains 1000 points from Skyscraper!" (2600-2300)<br>Unfortunately the way her Master Gig is floating I can't see her face, man what I wouldn't give to see it right now.  
>"Now Sparkman, Static Shockwave!" (1000-500)<br>Sparkman just flew up in to the air and even though Master Gig put up a force field Sparkman's lightning was still able to Peirce through and blow the stupid thing up, now let's see what Ivanov thinks of that.  
>"Very good Mr. Rhodes, you passed my final test, now you are able to know the truth about what I am."<br>"What that you're a pysch-" What the, what the hell is going on here?  
>"Before you mocked me, you said all I am trying to do is become God, well then Mr. Rhodes, allow me to ask you this, have you ever imagined God to be like what you see before you, no more than a brain in a jar!"<br>Next Time: "Stalin's Endgame."  
>"The shadows aren't done with me are they?"<p> 


	17. 17 Stalin's Endgame

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

By Kevin Jones

Turn 17- Stalin's Endgame

"You all now see me as I truly am. For decades now I have created puppets that I control with my seeds, each one allowing me to have influence over different parts of this world. I was part of Congress the year they began to use Satellite Sectors in cities. You've heard of the Rescission that happened about 30 years ago that was caused by bad housing loans well I'll have you aware you are looking at the woman responsible for selling most of those bad loans. That war we had with Iraq that now has the Middle East in ruins was caused when I gave false information about weapons of mass destruction. Chernobyl, decided to do that one night when there was nothing on T.V. And of course my favorite, when a young psychic named Sheldon Johnson from Canada began dating a girl who convinced him he could start a movement to get revenge for the people with abnormal ability's who were hated by society, although I don't know where he came up with names for himself like Divine and Sayer."  
>"But, but how, you're, you're a brain in a jar, how is this even possible?"<br>"All in due time Chase, all in due time.  
>Ivanov<br>"First things first, I play Card of Sanctity, now we both draw until we have 6 cards in our hands."  
>This is insane, this entire time, pulling the strings is something out of cheap old sci-fi movie, even now there's a deck attached to the jar, that's getting smaller as cards are moved via mechanical hands on to some kind of holder arranged in front of it.<br>"Well draw."  
>"Why would you play a card that helps me as well as you?"<br>"Simple, in order to use this next card you must have a full hand, I play The Mind of a Psychic!"  
>There's no way this is happening, there's a light coming from the card she just-<br>"Where are we?"  
>Wait a minute that was Damon's voice…Damon, Kai and Toni, but how?<br>"Weren't we just tied to chairs a second ago?"  
>Kai's right were not in a big silver room with a duel arena in it, now we're in a field with some snow and there's nothing to be seen for miles… wait a minute some one's coming.<br>"Who's that... guy's I know this sounds crazy but that looks exactly like Calm, Silent Gusta."  
>Toni's right, that is Calm, Silent Gusta but instead of being in shorts and a cloak, she's dressed up like a girl from the 1950's.<br>"I sure was pretty was I not?"  
>Ivanov, "What do you mean?"<br>"Very simple Mr. Rhodes in order to explain to you what is going on I am showing you my memories. That was me when I was all your ages, 15. I was the prettiest girl in the small Russian village, porcelain skin, long legs, oh god I still miss it, you know, no one ever found the green hair scary, my mother had it to, she taught me about my powers and how to control them, granted I was more concerned about things like boys, music, you know teenage stuff, that was until 1 day."  
>Suddenly the girl's face shows shock, she begins to run and runs right through Kai, with that we all turn around to see what looks kind of like a building burning.<br>"Now where are we?"  
>Toni's right we're no longer in that field but we're in a burnt building... yeah definitely. This must have been a house once upon a time and it looks like it caught on fire and-<br>"No, no, nooo!"  
>"I remember this day as if it was yesterday."<br>The younger Ivanov is on her knees, and she's crying uncontrollably with her hands in her face.  
>"I'd had been in town when a fire started, my parents were killed leaving me all alone in the cold with nothing but my tears and the ashes of my home."<br>The scenes changing again now were in a room- wait it's changing again. Now what's she trying to show us?  
>"The next few weeks were practically a blur, I went from neighbor to neighbor, and though I was quite popular when my parents were alive, I soon realized that people only liked the look of me, everyone knew what I and my mother could do. The people I stayed with saw my family as the nice monsters. At that time my powers were ruled by my emotions. I was in a dream state and couldn't control my powers as they found ways to get out and place seeds inside the minds of the people who took me in. They would trip, they would suddenly burn themselves, and one woman even began to cough up blood.<br>"Witch!"  
>"Monster!"<br>"Get out of my house."  
>All these different voices, I can tell there all directed at her.<br>"It only took a month before there was only 1 house left."  
>It's black now, like when she had her Shadow Realm Field Spell in play.<br>"The next week I have banished from my mind, let's just say the last man in our town wasn't known for treating woman well."  
>It's still dark but there's light... yeah there's a candle resting on a nightstand, and, and it looks like there's a girl lying naked on a bed crying.<br>"This part of my stay there I will never forget, that man, Anton Ivanov, had just finished with me for the night, only that night I chose to strike back, I scratched him against his face, I even remember a little of his cold blood dripping down on to my face. After that he grabbed me by the neck, and said. "How dare you stupid bitch! I knew it was a good idea to set that house fall of freaks a blaze, my only regret was that you weren't there and now I'm stuck with you and I can't even find a single use for you!" He then through my head against the wall and slapped me on the back. I can still remember just lying there for almost an hour, crying, my parents were dead, the entire town was probably in on there murder and here I was the slave of the wicked monster who planned it! Luckily very soon it would all be a memory."  
>The things this woman had to go through, but the way she said memory, before it was like she was reading something out of text book, but that, that right there, I have a feeling it gets worse from here.<br>"That night was exactly 90 years ago and we are now only a few minutes away from the exact moment my powers first ever reached their maximum."  
>The sun is now up illuminating a tiny concrete room with no more than a bed, night stand and a window, but the sun, this isn't morning, the way the sun looks, it's almost looks like it's noon.<br>"I didn't know why at the time but a little bit after midnight I stopped crying, I no longer felt sad and to be honest I haven't been sad since."  
>She's off the bed now and putting on some rags which I assume are her clothes.<br>"I want you all to stay up here until I give my signal to come down the stairs, believe me you'll know it when you hear it."  
>She's walking down the stairs now and everything is now quiet.<br>"Chase, what is going on here?"  
>"I don't know Kai, either way what happened to you guys?"<br>"Well after Ivanov put up that shadow around us, this doorway opened up and I decided to go through it." Says Toni, I can tell this is probably the story the other 2 have to give me as well.  
>"After that," starts Toni again, "I was walking around the school for like 20 minutes when I suddenly saw Vanessa in the distance."<br>The other 2 are nodding to this.  
>"At first I thought it was a trap but then I heard her yell that she and her Grandfather had been captured and that she was bait for all you but when I got up to her everything went black."<br>"Ivanov probably did all this to stop you guys from-"  
>"Ahhhhh!"<br>"That's the signal, guys let's move," that was a young girl screaming. Were all running down the stairs as fast as we-  
>"Oh my God," says Damon.<br>Ivanov is on her knees next to a dead body.  
>"At first I was scared at the sight, Ivanov had a bullet in his head and an old army pistol in his hand."<br>She's now running outside and we chose to follow her, its quiet out here, normally you'd expect there to be people out and about but there's nobody, the entire town is silent. Ivanov is running towards another house, she opens an unlocked door and runs in only to creep back out with a look of pure terror on her face.  
>"It was the same story with each house, everyone was dead, one way or another, and there was no reason for it, no logical answer until..."<br>The scene has changed again; this time it looks like we're in the town square with Ivanov just standing in the center.  
>"There all dead, all dead, everyone, men, women, children, all the people who casted me away, all those who probably knew what Mr. Ivanov wanted to do and may have even helped him do it and now there all dead."<br>Her face, she's now got this sickly smile on her face, almost like, she's still freaked out by it but she's happy about it, she's even starting to laugh, loudly.  
>"It was me, all these people are dead because of me, isn't it great Mom, all these years you told me to never let my powers get out of control, but from the looks of it, letting my powers go was all I needed to do to avenge you, what do you have to say about that, well, what do you have to say about that! Oh yeah you can't say anything about that, why because your nothing but ashes now!"<br>"Fascinating thing trying to talk to the dead, and the laughing, you all may find it cruel but if you think about it I was justified; after all, my parents did die because people refused to embrace our abilities."  
>The scenes changing again, this time I think were in a city. I can tell were in Russia, by the looks of the buildings but I can't tell- wait a minute, were next to a big bronze statue of a guy on a horse… wait a minute there's some writing on it. It looks like it says "Petro Primo Cathirina Secunda MDCCLXXII"... wait a minute I know this statue.<br>"Guy's, we're in Saint Petersburg."  
>"Correct, after I took care of all the people in my old village I made my way to Saint Petersburg, I spent about a year there using my powers to get my own apartment, food and money. I used to have lunch practically every day here by The Bronze Horseman, I always dreamed of what it would be like to be in the big city, and it was greater than I could ever have imagined but if you all look to your left you'll see why my dream changed."<br>To our left it's the younger Ivanov, she's wearing expensive looking clothes complete with sunglasses while leaning against the side of the statue eating a sandwich.  
>"Excuse me, Natasha Kolenkhov."<br>"That's right my name wasn't always Ivanov."  
>"How do you know my name?"<br>"My employer has been watching you for quite some time. He knows what you've been doing here and with a little digging we were able to find out all about you and where you came from."  
>"Oh really and who may I ask are you?"<br>I am Special Agent Cate Blanchett of the U.S.S.R Secret Police."  
>"So you guys are real, personally I thought you guys were about as real as those stories that of Stalin sending people off to Siberia for disagreeing with him."<br>"I don't know about that but I can insure you that I am a genuine agent of the secret police."  
>"Fine than, but that still doesn't answer the question about what he wants with me."<br>"Mr. Stalin would like to meet with you tomorrow at noon time for a lunch meeting."  
>"What for?"<br>"He would like to discuss a more practical use for your powers other then chicken sandwiches."  
>"And give me one good reason why I should agree to this meeting?"<br>"Try to place a seed in my mind."  
>"What?"<br>"Place a seed in my mind, and see what happens."  
>Ivanov, or Kolenkhov as her real name seems to be, removes her glasses and stares deep into the eyes of the black haired soviet agent.<br>"Ah, my head!"  
>Kolenkhov looks like she's in pain and she's got her hand held tightly against her head.<br>"Hurts don't it; tonight at 7 there will be a train leaving from here to Moscow, after that you will be escorted to your lodgings and then to the lunch in, understand?"  
>Before Kolenkhov has a chance to answer the woman walks away into the crowd of people.<br>"Now technically I could of just not have gone, and if I needed to leave the country, well, I'm sure you all realize I could have gotten out of the country easily but I was power hungry and I knew that Stalin could probably give me what I wanted, so by noon time the next day..."  
>The scene has changed again, this time were in a large conference room filled with old portraits and other antiquities of Russia. The floor is Marble and the walls are a deep crimson red color. In the middle of the room is a long mahogany looking table with gold legs covered with food but there are only 2 people seated at the table, Kolenkhov and Former leader of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin.<br>"Chase what do you know about this Stalin guy?"  
>"Well Kai, from what I know about him he was basically a monster. For over a decade he kept the country scared. If you didn't agree with him you were either shipped off to Siberia or killed."<br>Stalin looks it to; I mean he's a big guy with a large mustache and grey hair.  
>"You are probably wondering how it is I know about you?"<br>Say's Stalin in a deep serious voice.  
>"Not really, the only reason I'm here is because you've trained your private little group of Dog's to resist my powers."<br>"You think I trained them; no that was all Lenin, personally I believe the best way to control people is with an iron fist but what you can do, what you did, I knew I had to have you the minute I saw what you did to your village."  
>"And how did you know it was me, scratch that, why on earth would you all even know about my little town, when I got to Saint Petersburg I couldn't find any information on the mass suicide of my village."<br>"For years I was watching your mother, waiting for the right time to take her, unfortunately every time I sent in anyone to retrieve her she merely placed her seeds into people's minds. In fact she received her psychic training from the top experts at the time only for her to escape and hide for 30 years."  
>"And now you think you can use me as a replacement, comrade."<br>"Exactly, I was going to give up when a new spy in your village arrived to find it full of dead bodies. I've spent the past year looking for either you or your mother and now that I have you, I'm not letting you go."  
>By this point Stalin has gotten out of his chair and has walked across the table and now has his arms on Kolenkhov's shoulders, interestingly enough the more Stalin talked about killing and spying the more, almost, erotic his voice sounds.<br>"O.k. so you want me to be your super weapon against the Americans, what exactly do I get out of this."  
>Stalin is now walking towards a desk next to the table he then takes a Folder off the desk and places it on the table in front of Kolenkhov. He opens the file revealing several photographs of her.<br>"Do you see these, we have many pictures of you and all of these seem to show you using your powers on people and what face do you have in each of these pictures, pleasure. You like the idea of being able to control people, to make them your puppets and to use this to get whatever you want, you and I are the same, the only difference is I have what you need. You promise to lead my armies when it comes time for the world to bow down to me and I promise to make you the most powerful women on the planet."  
>"When do I begin?"<br>The scenes changing again, this time going through more scenes than ever before.  
>"Oh god the next 30 years for me were amazing. I had the top training this world had and even after Stalin died a few years later his successors understood that I was becoming the greatest weapon the KGB had but I still couldn't gain the power I had the night I killed my village until the day of April 26, 1986, now does anybody know what horrible thing happened that day?"<br>"Chernobyl," answers a scared Toni.  
>"Correct, when I said before that I caused Chernobyl because there was nothing on T.V., well that is not entirely true. You see the night before the melt down was the 36th aninverersy of my slaughter of my village and every day since I've tried to master that power once again but to no success, so to keep my mind off things I decided to look for something to watch on T.V., I couldn't find anything so I decided to leave it on a news special on the Chernobyl Power Plant. While watching, I tried something, I focused all of my mental energy onto the area around the plant and at exactly midnight someone did this, another person did that, and the whole plant went up."<br>"So saying it was a nuclear meltdown was a cover up?"  
>Says Toni as the scene changes again, this time we're in a bedroom, a pretty good sized one to and sitting there on a bed is a now much older Kolenkhov eating a bowl of ice cream.<br>The door just swung open, several men are now positioning themselves around the room while a short man with black hair and a suit on walks through the door.  
>"Good afternoon Comrade Gromyko, how may I be of service to you?"<br>"Don't give me that shit Kolenkhov, it was you who caused the meltdown at Chernobyl wasn't it?"  
>This man's loud and angry but still Kolenkhov is just sitting there practically ignoring him.<br>"I haven't done anything, but a true tragedy it is."  
>"Oh shut up, we've recovered security camera footage! The night shift people hard at work when suddenly everyone begins acting strangely, doing dangerous things and the next thing you know innocent people are either dying or have no power, only someone who could make people stop working, do dangerous things and then cause their own deaths could have caused this and there's only one person on earth who could do all that, you!"<br>What the, she's laughing, loudly, like she did when she realized she killed everyone in her town.  
>"OK then I admit it, last night I was able to use my powers to control people who I didn't even know existed and it made me realize why it's taken me so long to be able to do something like that. I absorb power, like a sponge and water I absorb the energy being emitted from people who have super natural powers, oh god if I were to have a constant stream of energy for the next year we could have the whole world in our hands."<br>"Our hands or yours?"  
>"What, you think I'm in this for myself?"<br>"Even if you are still dedicated to The Soviet Union I still can't put a blind eye to what you've done, we're going to tell the public that it was an accident, it won't help matters much but it has less of a chance of causing a panic than revealing you to the world, soon you shall be no more than a memory."  
>"You'd never kill me, I'm too valuable to you."<br>"Correction, your abilities are valuable to me."  
>With that there are now doctors walking into the room, I know this because there all geared up for a surgery.<br>"What are you doing!"  
>"All I need is your brain, your soul belongs to Satan."<br>"So now you all know, but before they cut my head open I placed my entire consciousness inside the mind one of the surgeons. I lived the next few years as this surgeon, she had a husband, a son and I gave birth to her daughter, then when the time was right I found the lab where my brain was being held. It was just sitting there hooked up to some computers. I knew it would be hard to know longer have a body but I knew that if nobody realized I was still alive, I would be able to get close enough to the smartest researchers in the nation without anyone getting suspicious. Then when the Soviet Union fell, me and some of my new "friends" came to the United States where I met a man who built life size puppets, very realistic, through his talents I was able to build bodies that allowed me to manipulate many more."  
>Now we're in a giant room with a bunch of kids dueling, and it looks like there inflicting real damage to each other.<br>"And these are some of our top students."  
>Who is- wait a minute that's that Sayer guy from the pictures in Toni's room. Yeah he's walking across the room next to Kolenkhov, now she looks exactly like she does now, or what her puppet looks like anyways.<br>"And this is our star pupil Ms. Aki Izayoi, soon to be participating in the Fortune Cup."  
>I don't believe this, this women has killed god knows how many people over the years and here she is shaking hands with one of the most famous duelists on the planet.<br>"As you can see by the arm around the girls shoulder Sayer was very friendly towards his followers, with this girl in particular I think he may have been a little too friendly, but when the Arcadia Movement fell and Sayer died many of his now emotionally unstable followers fell into my hands, unfortunately I never did get my hands on that Izayoi girl. It's probably a good thing that Sayer was absorbed by what were called the Dark Signers, it saved me the trouble of killing him myself."  
>The scene has changed again, now everything is dark, except for 4, I guess you'd call them windows around us, each one has Kolenkhov with somebody... wait a minute in one it's Abigail, in another it's Mortimer and in the other 2, its Damon and a much younger Scott Truman.<br>"After using my many connections I was able to create a new place dedicated for training psychics, The Arcadia Boarding School where I decided to be known simply as Principal Ivanov, a name taken from the man who allowed me to become what I am now. I trained the first batch of students and they helped train the next set. Like dogs I was able to teach them commands to do whatever I want, they no longer had contact with their families, any memory that didn't serve my purpose was erased, I think some of them may have even seen me as a parent while I was absorbing their energy waiting for the night that I would have enough power to control every human on this planet!"  
>Were back, back in the training room where I've been dueling her... it, all the restraints have been removed from everybody, Vanessa is still being controlled and she's still holding the gun to her head, all the duel holograms are still here and according to the clock above the jar that whole thing took only a minute.<br>"What just happened and what was that light just now?"  
>"Simple Mr. Aaronson, I just showed our little friends the truth about me, I was afraid to show you for fear you might get a heart attack."<br>"Why would you care if an old man dies?"  
>"Simple Chase, I want as many people as possible to feel the end of the world. Here we are, Stalin's ultimate plan for a new world controlled by one being is about to be completed and the only people who can stop me are probably too afraid to do anything."<br>"You're wrong!"  
>"What was that Chase?"<br>"I said you're wrong! Hundreds of people are dead by your hand and I refuse to let it go on! This world isn't ending, not while I'm still here."  
>"Don't you fear what I can do? After all 3 of you are trembling, 1 is my mind controlled servant with a gun to her head and the last one is a 70 year old fat man, why on earth don't you fear me?"<br>"Because you're a monster and I refuse to be afraid of a monster like you!"  
>It's laughing again.<br>"This is brilliant but come on, what do you think you are some kind of knight in shining armor. You're nothing but a creepy, pessimistic, spiky haired little boy who pushes everyone away and would like to see no more than everyone around him disappear, so how do you possibly think you stop me with only 5 minutes left?"  
>"Finish your turn and I'll show you!"<br>"Very well then, now I activate the effect of The Mind of a Psychic I can special summon a Psychic type Synchro monster who has his level reduced by 1 from my graveyard and I'm going with Daigusta Eagles (ATK: 2600/DEF: 1800) (7-6) now Daigusta Eagles destroy his Sparkman psychic flying Gust!" (1200-200)  
>"That's right Bro stand perfectly still like you did just now with your angry face."<br>"Damon, I am still your principal and I know you now fear me more than ever before."  
>"I admit I feel sorry for everything you had to go through as a kid but what you're trying do now is evil and I believe that Chase can stop you!"<br>"Very well than I set card face down and end my turn."  
>Chase<br>"My draw! I send my level 1 Tuningware from my hand to the graveyard in order to special summon Big One Warrior! (ATK: 100/DEF: 600) Now I summon The Tuner Monster Debris Dragon." (Level: 4/ATK: 1000/DEF: 2000)  
>"That's right Ivanov... Kolenkhov... Detective Tate... you know what forget what your name is because now that I'm here I can special summon a monster with 500 or less ATK points from our graveyard, so long as I negate it's effects!"<br>"I assume this little dragon is your spirit guide."  
>"Yup and now thanks to his effect I can revive the Tuningware I just discarded (Level: 1ATK: 100/DEF: 300) and bring him right back!"  
>"So a level 4 baby dragon, a level 1 guy with a big red 1 on his face , and a little round orange robot with a frying pan on his head, I'm sorry but you still can't do anything."<br>"Actually I can; do you remember my Gaia?"  
>"Elemental Hero Fusion monster can't be summoned from the graveyard."<br>"True but there materials can. Gaia requires 1 Elemental Hero monster, my Burstinatrix, and 1 Earth monster, my Quillbolt Hedgehog and when I control a face-up Tuner Monster it can be special summoned straight from the graveyard!" (Level: 2/ATK: 800/DEF: 800)  
>"4 monsters at once!"<br>"That's right Kolenkhov you can't beat the power of us, because were the ultimate Elemental Hero Deck!"  
>"Now I tune my Debris Dragon, Big One Warrior, Tuningware and Quillbolt Hedgehog!"<br>Debris Dragon flew like a bullet into the air and as it spread its wings it dematerialized and turned into 4 large green rings. At that moment Big One Warrior, Tuningware, and Quillbolt Hedgehog jumped into the air and dematerialized into 4 bright stars that fashioned themselves equally within the rings (4+1+1+2=8)and with a burst of light, "I synchro summon Stardust Dragon (ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000)!"  
>"Ah your ace monster. The legendary Stardust Dragon, I saw it at a tournament called the Fortune Cup almost 23 years ago and now here I am one turn away from slaughtering it."<br>"Not a chance."  
>"It's 100 points to weak, how on earth could you possibly hope to defeat me with it!"<br>"Simple, I play the spell card H-Heated Heart increasing Stardust's ATK points by 500; (2500-3000) Now Stardust Dragon, Cosmic heated blast!" (500-100)  
>"I set 1 card face down and it's back to you."<br>"Not quite I activate my face down card Metaphysical Regeneration. Now because it's the end phase I gain 1000 life points for every Psychic-Type monster sent to my graveyard this turn. (100-1100)  
>Kolenkhov<br>"My draw. First things first, I activate the effect of Teleport, I pay 800 life points (1100-300) in order to summon Destructotron, (ATK: 1600/DEF: 400) next I summon Life Gusta (ATK: 700/DEF: 500) and finally I play the card Emergency Teleport allowing me to special summon 1 level 3 or lower psychic monster from my deck and I select myself, The Mind Master!" (Level: 1/ATK 100/DEF: 200)  
>The jar is now floating in the air, revealing it not to be a jar but it looks like it's actually a robot, a tiny robot with mechanical hands.<br>"What are you up to now?"  
>"Simple, like Calm, Silent Gusta, Mind Master is based on me, thanks to my own influence of course and now you're going to witness the premiere of my final body!"<br>Instead of becoming a ring the robot flew into the air while its top part begins to open causing all the liquid inside to spill on the floor. The giant robot and what looks like a midget wizard with green hair dematerialize and the 6 stars place themselves in the form of a Hexagon around the brain. They are now flying towards the brain and are going inside it causing a burst of light and while giving off a feeling of evil-  
>"I synchro summon and become the Psychic Lifetrancer."<br>(ATK: 2400/DEF: 2000)  
>She's a human now; well she looks kind of like a human. The entire right side of her body is mechanical except for part of her exposed face which, like the rest of her, has pale sickly looking green skin. Her jet black colored hair goes down till about her knees which is wear a tattered blue dress also ends. Now her hand is levitating in front of her with the cards she has in play resting in a similar position to a duel disk resting on her robotic arm.<br>"What have you done?"  
>"Simple really, my new world will not be without fault. All I need is someone born with power like yours who will become strong enough to overthrow me. After tonight my brain will be too busy to sense anything other than the survival of the seeds within people so with the body of a duel spirit I will be able to control you all while the spirit of this particular Duel Monster protects me."<br>"You still can't stop my Stardust."  
>"True but at this moment I activate my special ability! I remove from play Calm, Silent Gusta from my graveyard in order to increase my life points by 1200! (300-1500) Next I play the spell card Psychokinesis allowing me to pay 1000 life points in order destroy your Stardust Dragon." (1500-500)<br>"Oh no you don't I activate Stardust's effect, I tribute him in order to negate his destruction!"  
>"Which leaves you open for a direct attack from me, now be hold your death!"<br>An orb of black energy is heading straight for me.  
>"I play Scrap-Iron Scarecrow negating your attack and resetting itself onto the field ready for next turn!"<br>"In which case I play Mystical Space Typhoon destroying your Scrap-Iron Scarecrow and with that I end my turn, which if I remember correctly means your Stardust now returns to the field."  
>Chase<br>"Stardust Cosmic Flare!"  
>"Sorry but remember my Life Gusta, well guess what now that you're attacking I can remove it from play to make me indestructible by battle until the end phase." (500-400)<br>"I play Magical Mallet; I shuffle my entire hand into my deck and draw cards equal to the cards I ditched."  
>Now what? There's only 4 minutes left and she's now stronger than ever... what if I try-<br>"Whatever you're thinking won't work, you can't attack anymore and I've memorized every card in your deck and you only have 1 possible combo that stands any chance of stopping me but your too afraid to use it."  
>"What's that?"<br>"Assault Mode Activate, why if you were to use that card you'd have a monster stronger than anything I've got in my deck but you know what it does. You know that I created that card to absorb your energy and you also know that you're not strong enough to survive it, after all you've barely been able to stand all game long and I bet that the card that you've had set since turn 1 is Assault Mode Activate which forces me to ask you what's taking you so long?"  
>"I end my turn!"<br>What do I do, she's right. Right now it's taking all my strength just to keep my feet up so the last thing I should do is risk a card that might just zap me on the first turn."  
>Kolenkhov<br>"I draw, hm… what to do, what to do! Right now I don't have enough ATK points to defeat your Stardust Dragon nor do I have a card to get rid of it for a turn; Looks like it's going to be another face change. I activate my effect removing from play Psychic Commander to increase my life point by 1200. (400-1800)Now I play Psychic Fusion allowing me to fuse myself with another Psychic in my deck!"  
>"No card is that powerful!"<br>"Correct, in fact I now have to take damage equal to the ATK points of the monster in my deck and I'm going with Genetic Women forcing me to have to take 1700 points of damage (1800-100) now allow me to introduce you to my newest form!"  
>I don't like this. Her voice just now became deeper and deeper and her body is transforming, becoming bigger and bigger.<br>"Now do you see me as a god! As you can see I can be whatever I want to be rather it is as a human, as Psychic Lifetrancer or as monstrous as The Ultimate Axon Kicker!"  
>(ATK: 2900DEF: 1700) She's huge; she's practically pushing the walls apart! She has giant green and yellow wings with green claws and a giant green and yellow tail that could probably crush us all in a second, she also has bones for hands as well as her face all protruding from a spine that goes over her entire torso covering a bright green sphere which is giving off energy throughout the entire body, and in the center of this orb is the brain of this monster, thinking of all the horrible things it wants to do.  
>"Not as good looking as my other body but perfect for destroying your Dragon. Now die!"<br>Its coming straight for Stardust, even with his efforts there's no way for him to stop this thing... I have to; even if it kills me I can't let her get away with this!  
>"I play the trap card Assault Mode Activate, now I tribute Stardust Dragon and special summon Stardust DragonAssault Mode!" (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500)  
>"I stop my attack."<br>I did it; I got Stardust into his strongest form. Now all I have to do is make it till next turn and this duel is-  
>"Do you hear that everyone? That is the sound of a school bell. Why you may ask? Well because it is now midnight which means I am now complete!"<br>"But you said that while you were dueling Chase you couldn't use your powers except in specific situations!"  
>"My dear Damon you don't think after all these years I haven't mastered the art of lying. Now all of you watch as I end this world and replace it with a new world, my world to be exact."<br>I can feel it, she's absorbing all the energy from this duel, we're out of time!  
>"It was a valiant effort Mr. Rhodes but I fear you failed."<br>"Not quite I've still got one card to play!"  
>"This isn't a card effect Mr. Rhodes, this is my power."<br>"And this is a shadow game which means were not battling with cards we're battling with spirits and since you're now a duel spirit Stardust can negate you with a little thing called Assault Sanctuary!"  
>"Hah, you don't have enough energy to pull it- what, what is this?"<br>As Stardust bursts into shining stars the stars go after the monster and are eating her away causing the body of the giant monster that was Kolenkhov to begin to vanish while she screams in agony- wait a minute, I just heard another scream. Vanessa... of course not only is Stardust destroying Kolenkhov but all of her seeds to.  
>"You, you, you are an abomination!"<br>"So says the monster, what you had to go through when your parents died is horrible but what it has turned you into is no more than a monster who craves nothing out of life except power and now-"  
>"Chase! Chase! Chase!"<p>

…

"Chase, Chase, Chase, wake up honey."  
>That voice, where's it coming from? It's so soothing and calm almost like- There's no way, just no way.<br>"Mom, is, is that you?"  
>"Yes dear, I'm so delighted I get a chance to see you all grown up."<br>"Does that mean I failed and I'm, well you know."  
>"No dear you're not dead, not by a long shot, just a little too close to the spirit world, so I decided to take advantage of the situation. Oh look at you, so grown up, your definitely your Father's son."<br>"I miss you mom."  
>"I miss you to Chase, but it's not your time yet and let's hope it's not for a long time. Goodbye Chase."<br>"Wait Mom, please, no don't go!"  
>"You still have a greater destiny in this world and remember, keep your friends close for soon you must face The Wicked One."<br>"Wait Mom! Mom! Mom! Don't go Mom, Mom!"  
>"Easy Chase, easy we're not in danger anymore."<br>I'm awake, my visions a little blurry but I recognize the voice and the orange smudge in front of me, it's Vanessa.  
>"Where are we?"<br>"We are in the coolest van ever."  
>Whelp it looks likes Toni's happy, Kai and the old man are also here sitting in office chairs next to a wall full of monitors. It looks like we're almost in a security office, you know like in movies when you see like 3 guys with a box of donuts watching a bunch of monitors but I definitely feel it moving a little.<br>"Well look who's awake."  
>The black haired man who spoke is in front us standing next to a blond haired women in front of the driver and passenger seat.<br>"Don't worry the Vans on auto driver. Now my name is Special Agent Roy Mustang F.B.I and this is my partner Special Agent Riza Hawkeye."  
>I suppose there trying to seem friendly. I mean the guy looks exhausted, and the woman's pretty attractive but I'm not being fooled.<br>"Where's Damon, Abigail and all the other kids in that school?"  
>"They are now beginning, what will be the long process, of being reunited with their families. Ideally there should be enough agents there by now to keep track of everyone. Your Damon friend decided to stay behind and help keep track."<br>"How can I be sure they aren't going to be experimented on by the government?"  
>"We don't have enough money. From what your friends here have told me Ivanov was funded by the Russians well guess what the Russians don't owe China a billion dollars, so don't worry if we could, we probably would but we can't so now we're probably going to spend months figuring out where these kids belong, so on the behalf of the United States, Mr. Chase Hafiz Rhodes, thank you for leaving the government with its biggest people placement crisis since the illegal Mexican issue from the beginning of the century."<br>"Roy!"  
>"Hafiz?"<br>"Kai don't ask."  
>"Ignoring my partner's rudeness Mr. Rhodes we are all in your debt-"<br>"Save it I did what I had to do."  
>We've stopped.<br>"Well everyone this is where you all get off."  
>We all get up and walk out in the cold October night air in front of the Golden Plate.<br>"Oh yeah and Rhodes."  
>I turn around to look at Mustang.<br>"Considering everything we've been told about you, I have a feeling I'm probably going to have check in on you every once in a while, just to give you the heads up."  
>Before I have a chance to say anything he closes the door and the van is now driving off.<br>"Why do I have a feeling I missed an interesting car ride."  
>"Sure did that Mustang guy is a weirdo, but I guess we're a little weird."<br>Kai's does have a point.  
>"Plus I didn't mind having that Hawkeye lady to look at either."<br>Once again Kai has a point.  
>"Whelp, I guess I better get out of here, I need sleep."<br>"Where do you think you'll go?"  
>"Ah Vanessa don't worry about me I know a few guys who probably wouldn't mind putting me up for a few nights. Oh yeah and try finding a bar called The Pit Stop good chance if you guys are looking, you'll find me there or someone who will lead you to me. Later."<br>With that Kai gets on his Duel Runner and rides off. I wonder if I will ever see the guy, can't say I wouldn't mind running into him again, well at least for a duel.  
>"Yeah I best be heading off to bed to. You guys should come over sometime, I'll see if I can score you something good to eat."<br>"Really."  
>"You bet Vanessa, well at least until my parents and little brother get home next week."<br>And there goes Toni. I'm not going to miss her but I will miss the food from her restaurant.  
>"I'll go pull the car up, and Mr. Rhodes I'd like to personally thank you."<br>"For what?"  
>"For giving an old man one last adventure."<br>He's happy; the only problem being is that now I'm alone with Vanessa.  
>"So it's over then isn't it?" She says.<br>"Yup, believe it or not we saved the world."  
>"Well then, I guess I'll see you Monday."<br>"Wait, what?"  
>"Don' you remember, I said I would be starting at Dewint Academy next week, well guess what next week is in 2 days."<br>"So in other words, you start at my school in a little more than 48 hours?"  
>"Bingo- well there's Gramps. See you Monday."<br>They both wave as they drive off. I'm starting to get a bad feeling that I'm going to be stuck with this girl for a while.  
>"That was amazing Chase we saved the world!"<br>"Debris Dragon, what did you do over the course of this whole thing?"  
>"Hello, I got out Stardust."<br>"No you were the tuner I had in my hand, even without you I still probably could've figured out a way to get out Stardust. It was Big One Warrior, who saved the day, you just happened to be in my hand."  
>"Ha ha very... wait a minute your keeping that black Duel Runner?"<br>"Of course, what am I suppose to say, sorry I borrowed your Runner to help save the world."  
>"Well-"<br>"Catch me if you can."  
>I've got to say, this thing is fast.<br>"There I caught up."  
>Not fast enough.<br>"Still it's amazing, we had a life or death adventure, beat the bad guy, saved the day, and plus we still get to see Vanessa… Chase are you ignoring me!"  
>"Debris Dragon."<br>"What?"  
>"The shadows aren't done with me yet, are they?"<br>"... Probably not."  
>Next time: The Next Day<br>"You were always street trash Chase and now I'm going to get rid of you with a card that has unlimited power!"  
>"Wait a minute, there's no way you could have that card!"<br>"I do and I by sacrificing my 3 monsters I can summon a card with power equal to that of the gods!"


	18. 18 The Next Day

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

By Kevin Jones

Turn 18- The Next Day

Have any of you ever been in the Military? It's a serious question. You know what, it doesn't have to be the military, just, you were doing something big. Something that practically consumed you, you could do nothing else but that one thing and then it ended. You had something going on in your life that basically became your life and then it ended, really just as fast as it began. I mean that's how the last few days have felt but I'll just start from this morning.  
>The day started like any other. I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock and with my head still in the pillow, reached over and threw it against the wall, yet interestingly enough, that doesn't seem to stop the ringing. Now for me this is normal but this morning I had a second annoying noise in my ear.<br>"Come on Chase wake up!"  
>You all know the annoying noise as Debris Dragon.<br>"It is 6:30 in the morning, I am going to keep sleeping and since you are a spirit you won't be able to get my head out of the pillow."  
>"Ah come on Chase, you haven't done a single thing since you got back here."<br>"I don't think you remember but I saved the entire world. I think I'm entitled to a little down time."  
>"I think you've had enough down time."<br>"How would you know?"  
>"Fine then, allow me to summarize it like this. We both got back here at 4:30 in the morning."<br>"Exactly, now I believe that if someone does something important and doesn't get back till an hour before sun rise, I think they're entitled to a little sleep."  
>"I agree, you slept till about noon, went to the bathroom, came back here and ate a bag of potato chips that was under your bed."<br>"I had to eat something."  
>"Then why didn't you go to the cafeteria, in fact after you finished the bag, which was like an hour later, you just kind of stared at the ceiling until you fell asleep again at about 9."<br>"I had a lot to think about."  
>"I can buy that, but the next day once again the only time you left this room was to go to the bathroom. You spent the whole day in here with a bag of Sun Chips and a bottle of water fooling around with all your other cards and another thing, why do you have food in here?"<br>"First of all, I keep food in here for when I get hungry and second, a wise duelist always switches cards in and out of there deck at least once a week."  
>"Then how come even after you finished you spent hours just staring at them."<br>"You know what, if you want to go outside so badly, then why don't you? It's not like I can do anything to stop you."  
>"I can't. As your spirit partner I am bound by a spiritual chain to not be more than 100 feet away from you at all times and the farther I go the weaker my connection to this world is, got it."<br>"Fine, but I'm still not getting up."  
>"Oh come on, think about all the things you're missing."<br>"Like what?"  
>"Oh you know, the sunshine, good food, friends, Vanessa, all the wonderful attractions of the NYC-"<br>"Wait, what did you just say?"  
>"The sunshine."<br>"After that."  
>"All the wonderful attractions of the NYC."<br>"One before that."  
>"Oh you mean Vanessa. Don't forget today's her first day here and I think we should be there to welcome her."<br>"You just sounded way too excited about her coming here."  
>"Ah come on Chase how could you not want her here."<br>"I could name 7 good reasons."  
>"Are you crazy! I mean she's nice, cheerful, bubbly, she's got flawless skin, nice shiny hair, a perfectly shaped body, good sized-"<br>"O.K. you're a dragon, why on earth are you talking about a human like that, scratch that, a human who will never be able to see or hear you?"  
>"Don't remind me. Hey I remember that face you're going to start ignoring me again!"<br>"Hey Debris Dragon, does the name "The Wicked One" mean anything to you?"  
>"No why?"<br>"Never mind."  
>"Ah come on, tell me."<br>"No."  
>"Tell me!"<br>"No."  
>"Tell me."<br>"No."  
>"Tell me!"<br>"You know what, if you promise not to talk for the rest of the day, I will go outside until you start talking again, deal?"  
>"Deal."<br>Now I didn't want to go to class, I mean think about it. I've been gone a week, during which time, I acquired a criminal mark. Now most of the people here are already afraid of me and walking into class with a god damn criminal mark might just force someone to run away and then I have to go to the Dean's office and I got to listen to some speech about how it's my fault that I was forced to receive a barbaric technique of telling society I might have done something wrong and this whole thing ends with me getting expelled and having to go to another stupid school and I believe my uncle told me that if I ever get expelled from Dewint, my next stop is Alaska but I don't want Debris Dragon to know about what my Mother told me, well assuming I wasn't just dreaming from almost dying in which case it's probably best to just forget about it but still I've had many dreams over the years about my parents but never with me like I am now. For now I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

As soon as I was all dressed and cleaned up, I went down to breakfast. I was luckily able to remain unnoticed until class that is.

"Aw Mr. Rhodes, you're back from you're…"trip."  
>I hate math. Why you may ask, well guess what math is useless except when dueling and at that dueling doesn't require trigonometry and if you don't believe me next time you're at McDonald's ask the cashier if you can see their degree in mathematics.<p>

Now my teacher, Dr. Traub, is- you know what I'm sorry, but I'd just like to point out that there was a top Nazi Scientist named Traub who was trying to find ways of prolonging life and if you look at this guy he looks old enough to have come from Nazi Germany. Now I'm not assuming something here but once again I'd like to point out, an extremely old German man who has the same name as an Ex-Nazi Scientist that may or may not have succeeded in discovering immortality.  
>"Now would you mind telling the class where you've been?"<br>"Yes, I would mind."  
>"Very well then, would you please take a seat, and as you can plainly see I've changed the seating arrangement, and you are now sitting right here at the top right hand corner."<br>Naturally that made my mark visible to the whole class.  
>"Now then, class since we are all here I will begin where we left off, Mr. Rhodes do you believe that you can keep up with the rest of the class?"<br>"Don't worry about me."  
>"Of course, I didn't plan to anyways; now then as we all… or most of us know, when 2 is-" blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah. Blah, blah.<br>Naturally the rest of my classes were like this so allow me to sum them up like this. Spanish: Blah, Blah, Blah, something in Spanish, Blah, Blah, Blah something in English. Engineering: Blah, Blah, but then a kid lit himself on fire so that was cool. You see we don't actually have an Engineering program. I know, I know, having a class called engineering usually means there's an engineering program but there isn't. According to the state all schools that have the money, have to offer a wide variety of courses. When the school decided they wanted an Engineering program, they decided to just get one of the geometry teachers to do it as opposed to an actual Engineering teacher. Needless to say everything is fine until we can't avoid actually building something which usually ends in fire. Now because of this Engineering used to be my second favorite class, especially when I need a good laugh but after history today it is now my favorite.  
>Now if you remember correctly we usually have to wait a few minutes before history class because Professor Moretti always gets carried away with his lecture; well that's where my troubles began.<br>"Chase you have this class to?"  
>No way, I thought, there is no way in hell my lucky streak is ending here. I saved the world, got Debris Dragon to shut up and I got to see a guy get lit on fire. There is no way that this lucky streak can end here.<br>"Earth to Chase, it's me Vanessa."  
>And with that my lucky streak just ended.<br>"So what do you think, personally I think these school uniforms are way better than the one I had to wear back in Seattle."  
>Where as I'm stuck in slacks, dress shirt, jacket and tie, Vanessa and all the other girls here have to wear a black skirt followed by a white dress shirt that's covered by a yellow sweater vest. I won't lie Vanessa looks good in it, all though for some reason she has the top button buttoned, not that I'm really paying attention, it's just kind of odd. Most girls tend to keep a button or 2 unbuttoned, personally I think the only reason teachers don't complain about that is because the male teachers like being able to look down there female students shirts so here's a warning to all the girls out there. If you have a teacher who has you seated by him, or stand by you when you answer a question, it's not and I repeat not because he thinks you're a good student, it's because he's trying to look down your shirt.<br>When the door opened I jolted in hoping Professor Moretti would help me get it through Vanessa's thick skull to leave me alone, boy was I surprised.  
>"Professor."<br>"Chase you're back... I'm sorry that you became marked by the Facility but at least you stopped "Janus" which means that you will become immortalized in history, well at least while we have a stable society."  
>"Right; now Professor I was wondering if you could help me with something."<br>"Anything you want my boy."  
>"Well you see-"<br>"Oh so you must be Professor Moretti."  
>To late she's here. Oh please Professor, please already know why it's best for her not to associate with me.<br>"And you must be Ms. Vanessa Aaronson; it's a pleasure to finally meet you. Arnold explained to me that you were keeping Chase safe and out of trouble, I hope he wasn't too much trouble."  
>Oh great he's shaking her hand, and the tone of his voice, it almost seems like he's flirting with her or something."<br>"Ha, ha no trouble at all, in fact it was quite exciting having him around."  
>"Ah, a good sense of humor, a desire from excitement and, from what your transcripts tell me, a brilliant mind which is why I knew it would be a good idea to recommend that you be specifically put in this class."<br>"Wait a minute she's here intentionally?"  
>"Of course, I feel it's important that 2 students with such compatibility be put together."<br>"Compatibility?" I'm sure you all share my confusion.  
>"Of course, there are many questions in this world that people like the 2 of you have the ability to answer but unfortunately intelligence like that is lost every day to the demands of a society that demands us all to think and behave the same, so stick together you 2 so you may keep your curious minds alive."<br>"You got it Professor."  
>There is no way she is actually taking this guy seriously.<br>"Now Vanessa why don't you sit here right next to Chase."  
>That's right people now I got to sit next to her for the next 9 months! I mean seriously this can't be happening to me!<p>

…

I was able to avoid her and pretty much everyone else for lunch, Earth Science and Gym but English, well I should explain first. My English teacher is an annoying bat who was probably born over power lines while his Mother was drinking water with lead in it. He feels that all books are important, well all books that have no point are boring and were written by idiots from like 100 years ago who were dying slow painful syphilis deaths, that being said; back then most guys with money were dying slow painful syphilis deaths. To make matters worse, Millay is in my class.

Fair warning, she's going to be here a lot, because you see for some weird reason she has spent the better part of the past 8 years, and probably the majority of her brain power, trying to control my life. If you don't believe me listen to this.  
>"Oh my God Chase what have you done!"<br>"What do you mean?"  
>"I'm talking about that criminal mark on your face!"<br>"You saw me get arrested, what did you think was going to happen."  
>"Yeah but you're always getting in trouble but nothing like this, I mean now your face, and probably any chance you have of making it in this world is ruined!"<br>"Good, then that cuts out the middle man on my path to becoming a drug addict or a jewel thief."  
>"This is serious!"<br>"I wouldn't talk ruining my future if I were you; after all you did miss first period. Let me guess, all night partying."  
>"We're talking about you not me!"<br>"Actually we're not talking. You're barking at me and I'm insulting you."  
>"Hi Chase."<br>Three hints on who that is, ridiculously long red hair talks a lot and has no common sense.  
>"Oh, you're that red head from the park the other day. I didn't know you were going to school here now."<br>Damn it Vanessa, listen to her voice get angrier, run before she bites you on the neck and sucks your blood.  
>"Chase, why is it that her face is clean and you now have a lightning volt on your cheek?"<br>"Because while you dueled Damon, she had 2 or 3 condoms full of cocaine going through her small intestine, so I decided to take the heat for everything so she could poop them out at a drug dealers hide out over in Queens."  
>"Listen you 2-"<br>"O.K. class take your seats and let us get back into the amazing world of 5Th century literature, oh and class please say hi to our new student Ms. Vanessa Aaronson."  
>"Not too politely." I hear Millay say under her breath, she sits right next to me so more often than not I hear her comments about, well, everything.<br>"Now Ms. Aaronson how about you sit right there next to the window, by the boy with the... scar on his neck."  
>Oh shit, I thought, now I'm stuck with an overly controlling demon girl to my left and someone who seems to disregard the obvious to my right.<br>"Now class as we all know-"  
>The rest of that class is a blur, English teachers have always been good at putting me to sleep and my next class was study hall so I just continued my nap.<br>So here we are. I've spent the past hours or 2 lying down on the grass next to the foot ball field.  
>"What's with the straw Fedora?"<br>"Debris Dragon I thought you said you'd keep your mouth shut for the rest of the day."  
>"Yeah but that's before I realized that you'd spend a perfectly good afternoon lying in the grass with a hat over your face."<br>The hat Debris Dragon is talking about is a straw fedora with a blue and white checker patterned band around it I got in The Bahamas about 2 months ago. I wear it every now and again, but since I'm usually on my Duel Board, well Duel Runner now... wow now that I think about it realistically the only thing I have to show for all the hell I had to go through is the Duel Runner. I mean I can't use that Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode again because it'll just start draining all my energy again or at least according to Elemental Hero Avian. This is obviously going to stay quiet so I'm probably not going to get any recognition for all this and at that the Runner needs a lot maintenance, plus I have to paint over the phrase "black power" so what does that leave me with? Vanessa and a criminal mark, neither of which I want. Oh well that's life, no matter what you do you just get screwed over in the end. Sometimes I wonder if-  
>"Oh my god he's actually dressed nice."<br>"I know, if it wasn't for the hair I would have never of recognized him."  
>That first voice sounds like Toni and that second voice is-<br>"Hello is anyone home?"  
>Vanessa, she's is leaning over me, smiling, and has my hat in her right hand.<br>"You know I never I pegged you as the kind of guy who wears hats."  
>Oh great now she's walking around with it and examining it like it's something out of an alien space ship.<br>"What are you 2 doing here anyways?"  
>"Well Red over here came over for something to eat and I've always been curious what this place looks like on the inside so we struck a deal to-"<br>"Congratulations now give me my hat back."  
>"You know you have a tiny head."<br>"No, you just have a big, empty, head."  
>"What's that suppose to mean?"<br>"Well for starters you do have a big head."

"I can live with that."

"And second you've done a pretty good job of making a fool of yourself today."  
>"If it's about Millay I didn't know she'd be in there or that you 2 were close."<br>"We're not."  
>"I don't know it looks to me like she has a thing for you."<br>"Don't even joke. Now listen it would probably be best if you stopped talking to me."  
>"Why's that?"<br>"Listen in this school it's all about appearances and if you don't start to hang out with the right people quickly your screwed, and I'm not the best person you want to be around if you're looking to have a lot of friends."

"Aw cute, Chas you're thinking of what's best for Vanessa."  
>"As interesting as that sounds I don't think I'd want to be around people who just want friends who make them look good."<br>"Fine then, but seriously leave me alone and give me my hat back."

"You're going to have to catch me first."  
>"Toni aren't you going to do anything?"<br>"Me, heck no this is hilarious."  
>Great now she's got me running after her.<br>"There, got you by the arm now give me the hat!"  
>"Unhand her you peace of street trash!"<br>Oh shit now what?  
>Great some shinny black kid is coming over here. Looks like a kid by the name of Charlie. He's basically an idiot who sees himself as a lady's knight in shining armor who keeps them safe from people who he deems are "unworthy of their beauty" no literally that's how he thinks. So for now I'm going to play along and give you all a look at premium brand stupidity.<br>"Hey you're that Charlie kid from my geometry class."  
>"Oh please call me Charles."<br>Chuck is on one knee holding Vanessa's left hand. If you'd like to take a minute to barf go ahead.  
>"O.K.; listen we were just goofing around."<br>"Nonsense, he's unworthy of your beauty."  
>See what I mean, granted that all that just scared Vanessa to the point where she's now standing behind me.<br>"Ah ha I knew it! You 2 Facility rejects have her so scared she's afraid that if she's around a real man, you'll kill her."  
>"What did you call me!"<br>This is fun, now Toni's got him pinned against a tree and is probably about to slug him.  
>"Oh come on Toni he isn't worth it."<br>"Not true Vanessa, I think it would be funny to watch her knock his teeth out."  
>"Wait, wait, wait I actually came here to find Chase!"<br>"Whys that?"  
>"Simple, I heard from Millay about your new "tattoo" can't let a facility rat roam around my school so I'm challenging you to a duel and if I win you have to pack your bags and leave Dewint Academy forever."<br>"Give me one good reason why I should agree to that?"  
>"Because while you were gone I got my hands on a legendary card and from what I've been told when it comes to dueling you can't resist a challenge."<br>"Why should I believe you?"  
>"Because if you say no you'll always wonder what I had and you'll only know if you duel me."<br>Damn, the moron has a point.  
>"Fine then; Toni let him go."<br>Chase  
>"Well Charlie since you lost to me last time, you can go first this time."<br>"Actually Chase since this is your last Duel here, you can go first."  
>"Suit yourself, I summon Shield Warrior (ATK: 800DEF: 1600) in defense mode and end my turn."  
>Charlie<br>"Same first move as last time, only difference is this time I'm going to beat you. I summon Abaki (ATK: 1700/DEF: 1000) in ATK mode, now Abaki destroy his Shield Warrior, demon swinger!"  
>Ironic, Abaki is just like Charlie's ego, big and if it wasn't for the bold head, horns, yellow eyes, blue mouth, red skin and bulging muscles they'd look exactly the same.<br>"I set one card face down and end my turn."  
>Chase<br>"Wow, it looks like you got a good card but I wouldn't call it a god card."  
>"Just give it time."<br>"Actually I won't, I summon Elemental Hero Stratos (ATK: 1800/DEF: 300) in Attack mode and when Stratos is summoned I can add Elemental Hero Clayman from my deck to my hand. Now destroy his Abaki, stratosphere storm!" (4000-3900)  
>Why didn't its club vanish with the rest of the hologram?<br>"At this moment I activate the effect of Abaki, now we both take 500 points of damage."

The club has just exploded and the spikes are flying towards both of us. (3900-3400)(4000-3500)  
>Normally I'd think that he used a stupid monster but something tells me he's up to something.<br>"I set one card face down and end my turn."  
>Charlie<br>"I summon, Archfiend Soldier (ATK: 1900/DEF: 1500) in attack mode, now destroy his Stratos, (3500-3400) Archfiend strike!"  
>"Since when do you duel Fiends?"<br>"Make your move, soon this will all come full circle."  
>Chase<br>"I summon Elemental Hero Clayman (ATK: 800/DEF: 2000) in defense mode."  
>Charlie<br>"My draw, I summon Shadowslayer." (ATK: 1400/DEF: 200)  
>"What exactly is a guy in a green suit with a sheep skull for a head going to do to help you get passed Clayman?"<br>"Simple, while Shadowslayer is on the field and you only control Defense monsters he can attack you directly."  
>Oh crap it has a knife. (3400-2000)<br>Chase  
>"I set 1 card face down."<br>Charlie  
>"Shame, your last move here at Dewint and all you did was play a face down."<br>"Give me one good reason why I should believe that this duel is over?"  
>"Simple, but first I play Aetonix Flame! Now I can special summon Abaki from the graveyard!"<br>Uh-oh as Abaki reappears he's releasing this weird energy that's crumbling my Clayman.  
>"Toni, what just happened?" Asks Vanessa.<br>"Aetonix Flame, it's a rare and powerful card. With it you can special summon 1 Fiend or Fire monster from your graveyard and then destroy every non Fiend or Fire monster on the field."  
>"That's not fair."<br>"Well in exchange he can't conduct his battle phase, but I don't get it why didn't he just-"  
>What's Toni realized? And what's the deal with Charlie's deck? Last time I played him, he dueled Fairy's of all things but why make the jump to Fiends and also why bring back Abaki, he could of just attacked me with Shadowslayer again... wait a minute 3 Fiend monster and bragging about 1 card that could finish this, there's no way.<br>"I take it you realized what I'm about to do."  
>"What on earth has possessed you to do this."<br>"You still don't get it do you Chase?"  
>"No I don't, that's why I'm asking you!"<br>"You were always street trash Chase and now I'm going to get rid of you with a card that has unlimited power!"  
>"Wait a minute there's no way you could have that card!"<br>"I do and I by sacrificing my 3 monsters I can summon a card with power equal to that of the gods!"  
>This is insane, the clouds suddenly got dark and there's a volt of lightning hitting the ground and now a giant is materializing in front me, Toni, Vanessa, Charlie and the growing crowd of kids around us.<br>"I summon Aggiba, the Malevolent Sh'nn S'yo (ATK: 3000/DEF: 3000) in attack mode!"  
>"Chase, Toni, what is that thing?"<br>"An impossible card, every year at The Duel Monsters World Championship they hand out 2 cards to the participants. There allowed to be used in the tournament but nowhere else. Use of it them strictly forbidden, in fact his Duel Disk should of turned off the minute he summoned it."  
>"But Toni what does it do that makes it forbidden?"<br>"If it attacks Chase directly and inflicts battle damage Chase will lose no matter how many points he has left."  
>"But thanks to Aetonix Flame he can't conduct his battle phase."<br>"True but from what we've seen so far I don't know how many cards in Chase's deck can get passed that thing."  
>"O.K. Chase, let's see what you can do."<br>Chase  
>"Where the hell did you even get that thing?"<br>"My parents have connections and an equal dislike of you."  
>"Why exactly do your parents have it in for me?"<br>"They've put a lot of work into this school over the generations. My Dad, Granddad, and my Great Granddad all went here and do you know how much pride I felt following in their footsteps?"  
>"I assume they were probably as full as themselves as you are."<br>"There you go again. This school was made for the sole purpose of educating society's elite. We've had Corporation owners, Judges, Doctors, Scientists and even a few Presidents come through this school and about 5 years ago, you showed up and in that time you've done a great job of turning things around here upside down. You're dirty, your late, your rude and you've been arrested 6 times in the past year, the only thing that was keeping you out of The Facility was your rich relatives and how do you show them your gratitude? You continue to be street trash, now you can't do anything about being born trash but the least you could of done was act like you belong here and now thanks to whatever mess you were just in your branded, forever looking like the Satellite bound loser your destined to be."  
>"Are you done ranting because I'd like to make my move now?"<br>"Be my guest, but I'm not sure how you intend on beating me now."  
>"3 turns, that's all I need is 3 turns. 2 of mine and 1 of yours, that's all I need to beat you."<br>"3000 ATK points and the minute it attacks, you are done."  
>"We'll see about that! I summon Elemental Hero Woodsman (ATK: 1000DEF: 2000) in defense mode and call it a turn!"  
>Charlie<br>"That's it, after that claim of victory on your next turn all you could do was play a defense monster? Well guess what, you can't do anything now. I activate my trap Double edged Fiend claw! Now I equip it to Aggiba, it lowers his attack points by 500, (3000-2500) but now he can attack you twice this turn but I'm not done there. Now I destroy Double Edged Fiend Claw, this allows its effects to last until the end phase plus you can't negate this turns battle phase, now Aggiba use your first attack to destroy his Woodsman, divine demon slash!"  
>"Sorry but by removing Shield Warrior from play I can stop my monsters destruction so you won't be stopping me this turn."<br>"Fine but I'm using my second attack to empty your field!"  
>"Now that Woodsman has been destroyed, I can play Hero Signal which allows me to special summon Elemental Hero Burstinatrix (Level: 3ATK: 1200/DEF: 800) in attack mode."  
>"Attack mode, sorry dude but that thing is an ant compared to my Giant."<br>"Are you done?"  
>"Sure, well then show us all this big reversal you're going to pull, especially now that Aggiba has all his ATK points back. (2500-3000)<br>Chase  
>"My draw, I summon the Tuner monster Road Synchron!" (Level: 4ATK: 1600/DEF: 800)  
>"O.K. a yellow robot with steam rollers for legs, I admit it's a Tuner but you don't have enough stars to summon something strong enough to defeat my god."<br>"I'm not done yet, I discard my level 1 Kuriboh in order to special summon Big One Warrior. (Level: 1/ATK: 100/DEF: 600) Now it's time for a synchro summon."  
>Road Synchron began to vibrate as it started to quickly drive off; as its wheels turned they began to vanish into 2 stars on each side. As the body faded away the stars turned into 4 green rings which stayed parallel to each other in 2 groups while Big One warrior and Burstinatrix jump through them, they vanish into 1 and 3 stars respectively. The rings with the stars in them place themselves 1 on top of each other and with a burst of light, (4+1+3=8) "I synchro summon Road Warrior (ATK: 3000DEF: 1500) in attack mode."  
>"Wow, big, gold and claws, scary but not scary enough."<br>"Reveal trap card, Limit Reverse; now I can special summon the Kuriboh I just ditched in attack mode. (Level: 1/ATK: 300/DEF: 200) Next I activate the effect of Road Warrior, now I can special summon a level 2 machine monster from my deck and I'm going with the Turbo Rocket Tuner Monster." (Level: 2/ATK: 0/DEF: 0)  
>"Wait a minute you aren't planning on doing another synchro summon are you?"<br>"Apparently you aren't as dumb as you appear to be. I tune my Turbo Rocket and my Kuriboh," Turbo Rocket fired its missiles into the air. In an instant they vanished and were replaced by 2 green rings with placed themselves around the star that had replaced Kuriboh and with a burst of light, (2+1=3) "I synchro summon Turbo Cannon." (ATK: 0/DEF: 0)  
>"0 ATK points and a body reminiscent to that of a double headed hair dryer, are you trying to insult me?"<br>"I activate Turbo Cannon's effect."  
>"Effect?"<br>"That's right Charlie, effect, because you see it doesn't matter how weak a monster is, how pathetic it might look, because all cards have a worth just like people."  
>"Oh please if you were born in a loser Town then that's where you belong."<br>"Wrong, we are who we chose to be and by using Turbo Cannon I'm proving the power of potential, final shot! Now Aggiba is destroyed and you lose life points equal to its ATK points." (3400-400)  
>"Impossible, a card so rare it can't even technically be played and you just blasted it into oblivion."<br>"Unfortunately Turbo Cannon's effect left you with 400 life points but don't worry Road Warrior going to take care of that, lightning claw!" (400-0)  
>Winner: Chase Loser: Charlie<br>"I lost, to a pair of Synchro monsters you'd usually find in the Satellite."  
>"O.K. talk, we both know that your Duel Disk should've of shut down the minute you summoned that thing now tell me why it didn't!"<br>"Please put me down, put me down, I swear I'll never bother you again!"  
>"Answer my question and I will."<br>"I don't know, there's this program that's been floating around the city that allows you to bypass a Duel Disk's programmed restrictions; I got it around the time you vanished, I, I don't even remember who gave it to me!"  
>"Then how about I help you remember."<br>"Chase let him go."  
>Vanessa's holding tightly onto the fist I just pulled back.<br>"It's like I said to Toni, he's not worth it. He's just a coward. Now calm down and let him go."  
>I might as well, it's a safe bet he can't tell me anything else.<br>"Give me your Duel Disk and your Match Winner."  
>"Shirr, just leave me alone!"<br>That was easy, plus now he's running off.  
>"What do you want with his Duel Disk?"<p>

With that Vanessa let's go of my arm  
>"Simple someone's manipulating Duel Disks. Cards like Aggiba belong to Duelists who have earned them and for those who just get copies of them off the internet well they shouldn't be allowed to even play them so the Duel Disk shuts down. If people are trying to make it that people who don't deserve crap like Charlie can play cards that belong to people with the true skills of a Duelist then I'm obligated to stop them. Toni mind helping me trace the program back to its creator?"<br>"Sure."  
>"Wait a minute," starts Vanessa, "that's it then. You spend the majority of your time not caring about anything that goes on around you until there's a puzzle and that's when the rest of us matter?"<br>"Yes."  
>Next Time: Final Details<br>I don't know what I'm going to do next. Basically it's going to say what happens to Damon, Abigail and the rest of the Arcadia students. I'll also explain if Kai and Chase are going back to the Facility and it will also further the mystery of the wicked one, Chase's past and the program made to alter Duel Disks, enjoy. 


	19. 19 Final Details

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

By Kevin Jones

Turn 19- Final Details

A tall skinny man walks into the Men's Room at the Broadway McDonald's. He checks every stole before pulling out his cell phone and calling the first number on the contact list.  
>"Hello."<br>"Sir it's me, Harrison."  
>"Aw, little Harry I take it you have good news?"<br>"Well, sort of."  
>"Sort of?"<br>"Well sir do you remember that kid you told me to give one of the Duel Disks to?"  
>"Which one?"<br>"The one from Dewint Academy, Charles Murphy."  
>"What about him?"<br>"Well we are going to have to take him off our list. I was just following a Duel he was in and from what I could hear from the microphone in the disk we were wrong about him. He is no more than a boy who was full of himself and the minute his ego was brought down he turned into a sniveling coward who gave the Duel Disk, as well as the Aggiba, The Malevolent Sh'nn S'yo his parents bought him, to the young man who beat him."  
>"Oh well, to be honest I had a feeling this would happen, I only wanted the kid to have the disk so we could make sure the virus in the disks allows for all cards to be played without any problem but based on your tone I'd say there's a silver lining to this situation."<br>"Well sir, the person who beat Charles displayed some of the characteristics you told me to look for in possible subjects."  
>"Oh really, and what would be this boy's name?"<br>"I believe Charles said his name was Chase Rhodes."

…

"O.K. then Chase let's get this whole thing straightened out."  
>The New Empire State Building has been up for about 20 years. I like it, mostly because it's the only building in Manhattan that doesn't have a part of the Tops district on it.<p>

Right now from where I am I can see all the way to The Statue of Liberty but I have to pay attention to the man in front of me, Nick Rush.  
>"First of all let's start out with me. I was called at the middle of the night, in Los Angeles, by your Uncle who told me that you are back in school. My first questions were when and why did you leave school. Apparently he didn't know, only that a few days earlier he got a call about you being suspected of murder."<br>His tone tells me that he's tired "Is that when you began to panic?"  
>"Me, of course not, I knew you didn't kill anybody and even if I did he said you didn't need a lawyer. Anyways he wanted me to find out all I could about what you did and how you got that mark."<br>Technically Nick is a lawyer, not a private eye but he's got the resources and the connections to pretty much get whatever information he needs.  
>"I couldn't find shit until a few days had passed. I was given a letter by some FBI agent named Mustang, I think."<br>Well it looks like I wasn't completely abandoned. You see it's been about a week since I got back and surprisingly things are pretty much back to normal. I attend classes every day, Moretti forgets to end class on time and Vanessa… well she's Vanessa.  
>"Now here is what I've been told. You were looking into a girl who showed super natural talents in front of you. According to the letter you later found out that this was the daughter of famed fashion designer Deborah Starzan who, according to my resources, has now left the city with a young red headed girl who appears to be old enough to be her daughter."<br>"So they left the city together, well at least I was able to reunite a family."  
>"Wait so this is true?"<br>"I am legally bound not to answer that question."  
>"Of course you're not. Now the letter then goes on to say that you then snuck into the Tops sector in order to uncover more information which is when you were then stocked and almost killed by now dead Sector Security agent Michael Sadusky."<br>Well at least they know I didn't kill him.  
>"After that you were then given lodging by a girl named Vanessa Aaronson."<br>And I've been stuck with her ever since, but I don't want Nick to know that.  
>"She then let you borrow one of her Step Fathers Duel Runners which you used to find the older Starzan and go to The Arcadia Boarding school in Water town."<br>"That was a nice Runner."  
>"There you were threatened and then kicked out by a women known simply as Ivanov who had invented the school to continue the work in psychic dueling that was started by famed cult Leader Divine."<br>"Damn Russians."  
>"But not before befriending one of the students who is only known by the name Damon."<br>"I wouldn't say befriended."  
>"The next day you were then arrested by Sector Security under the suspicion of being involved in the death of said security agent."<br>"If it helps Ivanov was framing me."  
>"I figured that because apparently the next morning you were, without trial, sentenced to a year in The Facility along with this Damon kid but by taking the heat you were able to keep this Vanessa girl out of trouble. I got to say this is probably the first time I've known you to stick your neck out for somebody."<br>"A girl like her wouldn't last in The Facility."  
>"Moving on, the next night when power was lost to The Facility you, Damon and a Mr. Kai Rodriguez escaped the Facility, met back up with Aaronson as well as a Ms. Toni Sorrentino and the 5 of you succeeded in stopping Ivanov from taking the over the world. Damon as well as all the Arcadia students, except for Starzan, are now in protective custody while their families are trying to be located."<br>Well I guess that means I'm done with Damon.  
>"Also you and Mr. Rodriguez have now had your records completely clean and I have not received word of you being expelled from Dewint yet. Now is this crazy story actually true or have I just been fucked?"<br>"I am legally bound not to answer that question."  
>"So that's it then; you're not going to give me a straight answer no matter what I say?"<br>"I am legally bound not to answer that question."  
>"Of course you're not. God I need a cigarette."<br>He puts his hand in his pocket and starts wiggling around before pulling out a small red and white box.  
>"So what do you think of the new office?"<br>I look around for a minute, to be perfectly honest I was more interested in seeing if I was going to be behind bars than looking at a new carpet but I swear there isn't anything remaining of his former office, not even any dust.  
>"It's definitely different."<br>I got nothing else to say because if I say what I really think Dana, A.K.A the new Mrs. Rush, will have my head. I mean seriously there are Persian carpets, and these weird looking brown vases in the alcoves behind his leather-tufted chair, now to put into perspective just how off this looks Nick's most noticeable item of clothing is the gold stud in his right nostril.  
>Nick may have a loud new office, but he is still the same guy I've known for about 5 years. There's now a cigarette dangling from his lower lip, dropping ash on the expensive looking leather blotter of his desk. Don't be fooled Nick may not look the part, but people tend to listen when he's got something to say.<br>He sweeps the ash away with the back of his hand and examines the burn mark on the new leather.  
>"If she sees that, she'll kill me," he says. Obviously he's talking about Dana. Man he's serious he's even tongued a little saliva on his finger and is trying to clean it up of all things.<br>"Since when do you smoke in your office?"  
>"I have to smoke here. Dana doesn't like it at the house. She says it leaves a smell on the furniture and her clothes."<br>"You know you said you were quitting 3 years ago anyways."  
>"Why Chase, what is the one thing I've tried to teach you over the years?"<br>Clearly, this is now a social visit. "Never rush life otherwise you'll just end up paying her 30% of your salary for the next 6 years."  
>"True, very true, but another thing is that you should take advantage of certain aspects of life."<br>"What aspects?"  
>"Really, O.K. yeah, now Chase I am going to ask you a question. It is an extremely important question that you answer truthfully and fully."<br>"Shoot."  
>"Do you ever plan on doing it with a 26 year old?"<br>"Well... when I'm 26, I guess."  
>"Ah come on Chase you know exactly what I mean."<br>Unfortunately I do, you see Nick is old enough to be my Father and Dana Rush is old enough to be my older sister if Nick was our Father."  
>"You know shouldn't four ex-wives have taught you not to go after the first nice ass you see?"<br>"Hey I was completely sober when I met wife number 1, as for the rest of them, well… you know what, let's get back to you, so what's your excuse for not having a girlfriend?"  
>"You know the reason, and even if it wasn't for that none of the girls at Dewint are interested in me and I'm not interested in them."<br>"What about Old man Dewint's Granddaughter from what I hear she's got quite the sweet tooth for you and without sounding perverted I don't think a man can go wrong with Dewint."  
>"Oh yeah, why not?"<br>As I'm sure you can all tell, this has now just turned into one of Nicks speeches about me taking advantage of my "rugged good looks."  
>"Because she's got the 3 most important parts to finding a mate,1 hot body, 2 money, and 3 a wild side."<br>"True but if you're forced to listen to her without her being naked, a T.V. in the room or a party you'll get the desire to jump off a roof."  
>"Oh, well I guess you'd know but still if you cleaned yourself up a bit and maybe brushed your hair you could probably find someone like for instance..."<br>Oh crap he's rummaging through his desk, last time he did that I found out this little scar on my neck wasn't going away.  
>"How's about you take a shot at her."<br>Of all things in the world he's got a file with Vanessa's name on it. He opens the file to reveal what looks like her last school photo and a page with information on it.  
>"Why do you have this?"<br>"I had to get information on the people I was told about and interestingly enough she was the only one I could get information on, now that the rest of you have had your criminal records clean. Which brings me to my next point, This girls pretty good looking, I mean she ain't like Dewint but still; plus, from what I could find out, she's got a lot of what Dewint has plus she has a great personality and a lot of her old teachers said, and I quote, "she's intelligent but a little strange" which then was usually followed by them asking why I needed this information and believe me that was the hardest part of all this. Which reminds me if my Ulcer comes back I'm holding you personally responsible."  
>"When did this meeting turn into the love connection?"<br>"Ah come on we both know you could use a good girl considering- never mind."  
>"Right, well these girls are a little too young for me."<br>"Young, your 16 and there both 15."  
>"Exactly that's too young for me."<br>"Fine then, but remember while you're in your room tonight, alone, thinking that a girl who you don't have an excuse for why you shouldn't at least consider flirting with her except being 1 year apart I'll be home banging a 26 year old."  
>"Congratulations."<br>"You know I bet you'd have your Mothers warm smile and your Fathers contagious laugh if you ever bothered to find something to be happy about."  
>"Have there been any leads?"<br>"What do you think, it's been 8 years."  
>"Fine then; I guess I better be going, don't worry I'll tell Kai and Toni that we're not in any more trouble."<br>"Wait, before you leave."  
>He's now up and is going over to a small refrigerator behind the alcove.<br>"Here have a coke, Dana won't let me have this either, says the caffeine's bad for me."  
>"She's right you know."<br>"Ah enough about her, now to Vanessa and that she's one day able to melt your cold, cold heart."

…

"So then we're all safe?"  
>"Yes Toni."<br>"All 5 of us?"  
>"Yes Toni."<br>"End Damon's going to find his family and none of us will return to The Facility?"  
>"Yes Kai."<br>"Then we got to celebrate, hey Eddy 3 beers this way!"  
>"Hey, don't think that just because I'm old means I'm blind I know a bunch of kids when I see them."<br>"Fine, then 3 Pepsi's."  
>Without saying anything the old bold bar tender places 3 cans of Pepsi on the bar and slides them over towards us.<br>We're all currently in the Pit Stop. If it's not ringing a bell, this is the place Kai told me I could probably find him, unfortunately I didn't think he'd keep me here. I mean don't get me wrong it's a cool looking place. It's basically your average every day sports bar only for Turbo Dueling. The walls are filled with banners, posters and even Duel Runner parts. It's filled with people, all of which are Hispanic which makes me and Toni the white people, or for you idiots who want me to be politically correct "The people of non Latin descent."  
>"By the way Chase I've got something for you."<br>"It isn't the bill for the soda is it?"  
>"Very funny, it's actually my way of thanking you for getting me out of the Facility."<br>"Hey why does Chase get something and I don't?"  
>"Toni you didn't do anything."<br>"I gave you food and a place to sleep."  
>"And I got you into a Mexican bar and am paying for your drinks."<br>"Fair enough."  
>"Now Chase, I give to you the Nitro Warrior I acquired while in the Facility."<br>"But it's your best card, why would you give it to me?"  
>"Correction it was the best card I had in The Facility, not in general. I don't use synchro monsters and you do so you'll probably have a better use for it then I will."<br>I take the card, examine it and then slip it into my wrist Dealer.  
>"So what's this about a duel disk virus you 2 were talking about when you first got in here?"<br>Toni leans over past Kai and looks at me, I nod and begin to talk.  
>"Well about a week ago I dueled a kid at school who had Aggiba, the Malevolent Sh'nn S'yo."<br>This has Kai wide eyed and almost out of his seat.  
>"No way."<br>"Way."  
>"Was it everything like the stories said it was?"<br>"And then some."  
>"Oh man Chase you are now definitely my favorite white guy."<br>"Thanks, I think, but wait a minute don't you think it's a little odd that his duel disk didn't shut off?"  
>"So he probably hacked into the computer or something."<br>"Wait this doesn't bother you?"  
>"Of course not, people have always tried to get the upper hand using less than fair methods so why bother dealing with it. I mean do I think it's right of course not but do I care enough to do anything, not really and you 2 don't either."<br>"What's that suppose to mean?"  
>"You 2 are bored. Toni you want to be able to reveal some big conspiracy for your Internet buddies and Chase you aren't interested in normal life so you're looking for something to peek your interests for a little while."<br>O.K. Kai might have a point but there's still something odd going on here, I'm sure of it.  
>"Fine then Mr. Normal while me and Chase have been trying to catch a virus what have you been doing that's so exciting?"<br>Kai seems uneasy all of a sudden, almost like he's hiding something.  
>"Me, nothing important."<br>"Exactly so don't judge us."  
>"I'm not judging, I'm just saying one duel disk that could summon a match winner doesn't mean anything."<br>"You're starting to sound like Vanessa."  
>Oh great Toni said the V word.<br>"Oh yeah, how's the Ginger doing, I'd imagine she'd probably be the most traumatized of all of us after all this."  
>"She's fine," starts Toni, "what makes you think she's the one of us in the worst shape she doesn't even remember most of it."<br>"Well she is the most normal of us."  
>"That girl is not normal."<br>Believe me I'm right on this one.  
>"How so?"<br>"She's completely scatter brained, always has her nose in a book, always happy, and she doesn't seem to get that I don't like her."  
>"Funny how most of those things are traits that you wouldn't like."<br>"Also," starts Toni, "she's the only girl I know who doesn't wear make-up, has hair that goes down her entire back, eats whatever she wants, runs just for the fun of it and every time you compliment her on how she looks she thinks you're lying."  
>"Aw now I get it."<br>"Oh tell us oh wise and mystical Kai, tell me and my spiky haired friend the answer to this red haired weirdo."  
>Why does everyone think I have spiky hair?<br>"It's simple, she's different from the 2 of you, never mind how weird you guys are, the fact that she doesn't fit your mold of most people has to mean that there's a screw loose."  
>"We all almost died and the next time I saw her all she can do is talk about our school?" I think I'm more confused now then when I fought the Aggiba.<br>"Chase, has it ever occurred to you that where you just locked yourself in your room for 2 days that maybe her method of moving on from what happened was to move forward in life."  
>"Then why'd she have to drag me into it.<br>"She's starting a new school in a big city, you were a familiar face plus you went through the same thing as her so she thought that you could be a human being for a change and actually connect with her. I know that if I had a hot girl like that next to me I'd hit that faster than you could blink."  
>"Hey, what about me?" Asks Toni.<br>"No comment."  
>"Kai if you think she's all that then why don't you date her?"<br>"Unfortunately I can't. She's what, 15, and I'm 19, personally I'd prefer a little more junk in the trunk if you know what I mean."  
>"What is it with you Mexicans and buts?"<br>The music just stopped.  
>"Hey who turned off the music?"<br>"Toni shut up."  
>"But Chase-"<br>"Toni be quiet and try to look confused."  
>"Hey who brought in the whites?"<br>I hear from the crowd.  
>"It's O.K. everyone there with me," starts Kai, "these are my friends and… well… you know what whoever turned the music off would you please turn it back on."<br>"It was me Kai."  
>The Bar tender is behind us now, even though he's old he looks big enough to probably pick the 3 of us up, carry us and then throw us into the street.<br>"Now I was suspicious when you walked in here, and I got even more suspicious when these 2 crackers walked in and then to hear what I heard her say.  
>"What'd she say Eddy," I hear being screamed from the crowd.<br>"She said, "What is it with you Mexicans"."  
>We're dead, but one thing I'd like to point out before I die is that turning off the music is not exclusive to Mexican Bars. I was in a similar situation with a bar that was mostly filled with white people the only difference was I didn't say anything clearly racist but the whole thing still ended in a big bar fight.<br>"So looks like we got a couple of racists in hear."  
>Oh crap the new guy in front of us looks big enough to eat us. He's big, he's dark and he's bold, I've got to think what Toby Keith would do in this situation.<br>"Big Jimmy," starts Kai, "looking slim, you see… she didn't mean anything by it, she's Italian and we all know how they can be."  
>Toni quickly begins to nod her head.<br>"I'm sorry everybody I didn't know what got into me. I mean I'm sure most of you are legal."  
>Oh you've got to be kidding. Now everyone is getting angrier.<br>"Oh so now if you're Mexican you're illegal. Well let me tell you something I was born right on this very street and if you think I'm going to let it be run over by white trash you've got another thing coming!"  
>"Look Big Jimmy I swear she didn't mean anything by it see," Kai is now knocking on Toni's head like a door, "no brain in there, ha, ha."<br>"Kai I don't think now is the time for dry wit."  
>"Yeah, well Chase you try something."<br>"Hey you 2 shut it. Now since it's only your first offense I'm going to give you a chance to redeem yourselves, you with the leather jacket."  
>Wait how did I get into this?<br>"From what I can see your wearing a wrist dealer which I take it means you're a Turbo Duelist."  
>"What's it to you?"<br>"Don't you care what happens to your friend?"  
>"She's not my friend and she did this to herself."<br>"So I take it you won't duel?"  
>"Duel?"<br>"That's right if you want her unharmed you'll have to beat me in a Turbo Duel."  
>Well from the looks of it everyone here knows this guy which means he might actually pose a challenge.<p>

…

"Nice Runner." That being said my Runner is toy compared to this thing. It's a long silver chopper with dozens of names written on it.  
>"After each of my victory's I have the loser write their name on my Duel Runner. I hope you got nice hand writing boy."<br>"I hope you don't cry when you lose."  
>Chase<p>

Chase: SPC: 0 Big Jimmy SPC: 0  
>Now that we have our Speed World 2 cards activated the road is now rising into air with a smaller road below it being revealed. The duel lane is pretty big but I'm sure I can do it.<br>"Seeing as this is the only time your white ass will be here you can go first."  
>"Fine by me I summon Elemental Hero Clayman (ATK: 800DEF: 2000) in defense mode, next I set 1 card face down and end my turn."  
>Big Jimmy<br>Chase SPC: 1 Big Jimmy SPC: 1  
>"Typical first move from a novice, now I set one card face down, next I activate the card Reaction to Battle field status."<br>"Mind if I ask how you activated a trap the turn you set it?"  
>"Simple I can activate this card the turn I set it if you control more monsters then I do and I don't control any monsters right now, well or at least I didn't because now I can normal summon 2 reactor monsters this turn so long as I take 800 points of damage after I summon the second one. Now come forth Trap Reactor・Y FI (ATK: 800DEF: 1800) and Defense Reactor・ GA. (ATK: 1400/DEF: 0) (4000-3200) Now Defense Reactor attack his Clayman, wall Bombing!"  
>There's a world war 2 plain with legs coming after my Clayman plus he's still got his other big green plain with legs, neither one has enough points to stop my Clayman.<br>"I don't think you noticed but Clayman has more than enough Defense power to stop you."  
>"I know that's why my Reactor has an effect. When he attacks your monster in defense mode, it's destroyed before damage calculation and you take 800 points (4000-3200) Now Trap Reactor attack him directly, RR bombing!"<br>"Sorry but I play a trap, Defense Draw! Now I can make my battle damage 0 and draw a card."  
>"Upon activating a trap you fell right into one! When you play a trap card Trap Reactor can destroy it and you take 800 points of damage."<br>Great my trap virtually only let me draw a card and now this thing is firing bullets at me. (3200-2400)  
>"I set one card face down and end my turn."<br>Chase  
>Chase SPC: 2 Big Jimmy SPC: 2<br>"I draw, I summon Elemental Hero Wildheart (ATK: 1500/DEF: 1600) now Wildheart destroy his Trap Reactor, Wild slash!"  
>"Oh no you don't I activate a trap-"<br>"Sorry but Wildheart isn't affected by traps!"  
>"True but my Reactors are, I play Burst Reaction, now I destroy Defense Reactor to make Trap Reactor indestructible by battle for the rest of the turn." (3200-2500)<br>O.K. from what I remember about Reactors that Trap Reactor has got to be part of his ace combo.  
>"I set 1 card face down and end my turn."<br>Big Jimmy  
>Chase SPC: 3 Big Jimmy SPC: 3<br>"My draw, I summon Spell Reactor・RE (ATK: 1200/DEF: 900) next because I have 3 speed counters I can play the Speed Spell-Machine rising, now by equipping this card to Trap Reactor I can increase his ATK power by the amount of the monster I just summoned until the end phase so long as the monster I summoned doesn't attack this turn. (800-2000) Now Trap Reactor destroy his Wildheart! I set 1 card face down and end my turn." (2400-1900) (2000-800)  
>Chase<br>Chase SPC: 4 Big Jimmy SPC: 4  
>"All right then I play the Speed Spell-Angel Baton-"<br>"Which activates the effect of Spell Reactor・RE now because you activated a Spell Card you take 800 points of damage." (1900-1100)  
>"That sucks, but now thanks to Angel Baton I draw 2 cards so long as I discard 1 card! Next I summon Elemental Hero Lady Heat (ATK: 1300DEF: 1000) now destroy his Trap Reactor, heat kick!"  
>"I activate my trap Negate Attack now your Lady Heat's attack is negated!"<br>"I set 1 card face down and end my turn and since I'm ending my turn Lady Heat inflicts 200 points of damage!" (2500-2300)  
>Big Jimmy<br>Chase SPC: 5 Big Jimmy SPC: 5  
>"My draw... perfect."<br>"I'm in trouble aren't I?"  
>"You bet, you see I know your type. You think you don't need anybody which is why you didn't help your friend. I know what she said was probably just a stupid comment but it's you I have a problem with. You think you're so above everyone that you don't even care if something happens to someone who obviously likes you enough to sit down and drink with you; oh that just makes me sick! I play the Speed Spell- Equip Reaction now because I have 5 speed counters I can destroy my Machine Rising in order to special summon 1 Reactor Token," (ATK: 0DEF: 0) next I tribute the Reactor Token in order to summon, Summon Reactor・SK!" (ATK: 2000/DEF: 1400)  
>"Sorry but that won't help you, I activate my trap!"<br>"Now you get hit with another 800 points of damage." (1100-300)  
>"True but now I can use the trap Bottomless Trap Hole, destroying your Summon Reactor!"<br>"Not before I activate its effect! I tribute Summon Reactor・SK, Spell Reactor・RE, and Trap Reactor・Y FI in order to summon Flying Fortress SKY FIRE!" (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500)  
>Oh boy, it's a B-17 Flying Fortress in human shape.<br>"Now do you see? It's taken me years to assemble this deck and you know what, I needed help from my friends to get all the right cards and to get help you've got to show respect! I hope you learn this from this loss. Now I activate Flying Fortress SKY FIRE's special ability, I discard 1 card to destroy your Lady Heat!"  
>"This isn't good."<br>"Now Flying Fortress SKY FIRE attack him directly!"  
>"Oh no you don't! Remember when I activated Angel Baton and I had to discard a card, well guess what the card I discarded was my Necro Gardna and by removing him from play I can negate your attack!"<br>"Lucky you, I end my turn."  
>Chase<br>Chase SPC: 6 Big Jimmy SPC: 6  
>O.k., realistically I knew the minute he summoned Trap Reactor that he was going to try and get this monster out but I don't have the right monster in my hand to beat it, so if this draw doesn't work I'm screwed and if my theory is correct on what they're going to do with Toni is correct then were all screwed.<br>My draw... yes, "O.k. then I discard 1 monster card from my hand in order to summon Quickdraw Synchron!"(Level: 5/ATK: 700/DEF: 1400)  
>"Sorry but thanks to SKY FIRE's effect your little robot cowboy is destroyed and you take 800 points of direct damage!"<br>"Not quite because I'm now activating the Quick-Play Speed Spell- Bullet Redirection! Now since I have 2 or more speed counters I can take all the damage you were about to give me and send it right back at you!" (2300-1500)  
>"Well that sucks but either way unless you've got another Necro Gardna your dead next turn."<br>"Actually there isn't going to be a next turn!"  
>"Oh yeah and whys that?"<br>"Because I believe in my deck and the power it gives me! Now I activate the trap Revival Gift!"  
>"What does that do?"<br>"Glad you asked because now I can special summon 1 Tuner Monster and I'm going with my Quickdraw Synchron and in exchange you get 2 Gift Fiend Tokens (ATK: 1500/DEF: 1500) in defense mode. Now because I control a face up Tuner Monster I can special summon the Quillbolt Hedgehog I just discarded, (Level: 2/ATK: 800/DEF: 800) now Quickdraw's effect activates."  
>There is now a large wheel with a picture of all Synchron Tuner Monsters on it in front of Quickdraw.<br>"You see Quickdraw can be used in place of any required Synchron tuner!"  
>The wheel is now spinning rapidly in front of Quickdraw but that doesn't bother him, without even blinking Quickdraw fires and lands his mark perfectly.<br>"Now I'm going to use him in place of Nitro Synchron!"  
>Quickdraw fired his pistol, with each shot he began to fade more and more away and after 5 shots he vanished entirely and the bullets turned into 5 big green rings. Quillbolt then jumped into the middle of these rings and in a burst of light, (5+2=7) "I synchro summon Nitro Warrior (ATK: 2800DEF: 1800)!"  
>"Clever but it won't help you."<br>"Actually it will because you see when Nitro Warrior attacks on the turn a spell card is activated he gains 1000 points! (2800-3800) Now Nitro Warrior attack Flying Fortress SKY FIRE, Dynamite Crunch!"  
>As Nitro Warrior flew towards the giant plane his big green fists became encased in 2 giant green fists made of energy which were successfully able to make this plane crash. (1500-700) (3800-2800)<br>"Now I activate Nitro Warrior's second effect, dynamite impact!"  
>One of the small black blobs, A.K.A Gift Fiend Tokens, sprang up into ATK mode and went after Nitro Warrior to which Nitro only had to kick it into the ground to destroy it.<br>"What did you just do?"  
>"Simple really, when Nitro Warrior destroys a monster by battle and you control a monster in defense mode he switches it and they mix it up only thing is you don't have enough life points to survive this battle!" (700-0)<br>Winner: Chase Loser: Big Jimmy  
>"All right Chase you won, now will you wet- guys please put me down."<br>"No way cracker, as far as I'm concerned this guy just got lucky! You're coming with us and as for you Kai... ha, ha, ha, oh my god you 2 should have seen your faces."  
>"Wait a minute... are you telling me that this was a joke and I was never in any danger?"<br>"Of course, kid I have no idea what you said. All I knew was everyone was staring at the only people who weren't staring at anybody else, which are usually the white people and this guy had a wrist dealer. The minute I saw it and how calm he was I got the itch for a duel, plus I love a good joke."  
>"Wait Chase were you in on this?"<br>"Me, no but I could tell that there was something up with this guy so I decided to play along and see how this whole thing played out."  
>"And man, were you good at that, I haven't had a duel that good in months. Now listen you 3, I'm not sure how much of what Eddy said is true, he's been getting a little senile in his old age, so as far as I'm concerned the 3 of you are welcomed back to the Pit Stop anytime you'd like, although girl if I were you I might recommend coming with Chase or Kai just in case Eddy starts blabbing because frankly Eddy doesn't forget anything. Well good night."<br>Wow, now that he's gone all the people who were watching are leaving, you know I should learn how to-  
>"You tricked me!"<br>"Well duh, Toni when it comes to torturing you we're all on the same page."  
>"Well what about you Kai, you've been pretty quite throughout this whole thing!"<br>"Well I realized it to when I remembered Big Jimmy's reputation for being a powerful duelist and for his love of practical jokes."  
>"What is wrong with you 2, normally when a girl is in trouble a guy is supposed to run to her protection!"<br>"Toni, the way you talk you'd make a guy go gay."  
>"Whys that Mr. Loner?"<br>"Because you have no clue when to shut up and if you don't learn to shut up soon you're going to get yourself in trouble."  
>"So you did this whole thing just to teach me a lesson?"<br>"Sure let's go with that."  
>"... You know what Vanessa's right about you."<br>"What's that suppose to mean?"  
>"She thinks you're a good guy, you're just too lonely to realize to it."<br>"Good night you 2."

…

As Eddy" cleaned up the floor he looked around the empty bar. When he was sure it was empty he took out a cell phone and dialed the number he had been given a few days ago by a strange tall skinny man.  
>"Hello."<br>"Hey it's me, bring the money you promised and get over here now. I did exactly what you said. The Rhodes kid came here tonight with the 2 people you told me about and I put him in a situation where he had to duel and he won and not once did he even flinch."  
>"Good I'll be there in a few minutes. I'm sure my employer will be happy about this."<br>Next Time: "Caged"  
>"So let me get this straight if I win they live and if I lose they all die?"<br>"Correct." 


	20. 20 Caged

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

By Kevin Jones

Turn 20- Caged

Oh great and powerful magic 8 Ball, please tell me is there even a point to continuing on with this adventure...

"Ask again later."

O.K. let's try this, oh great and powerful magic 8 ball, will the Cardinals ever win the Super Ball...

"As I see it, yes."

Well its official the Magic 8 Ball really is just a stupid toy.

I give up, it's been over a week and I still have no real proof that there really is a conspiracy involving Duel Disks, plus Charlie's been out of school ever since we dueled so it's not like I can ask him anything. Now I need something else to occupy my time, I'm thinking Crack.  
>"Afternoon Chuckles... hey what's with the black ball?"<br>"What are you doing here? It's a Friday afternoon."  
>"I asked you first."<br>"It's a Magic 8 Ball."  
>"No way, Gramps told me about these. He said they were really popular when he was growing up but how did you get one?"<br>"I get around a lot; now what do you want?"  
>"I just won a contest."<br>"What, world's longest hair contest."  
>"Very funny, I was walking out of a grocery store when I saw that there was this contest where this guy told me to turn a crank and if a gold ball came out I would win 4 tickets to the Great Jungle Circus at Lincoln Center tomorrow and guess who one."<br>"And what does that have anything to do with me?"  
>"Well I want you and the guys to come with me."<br>"The guys?"  
>"Yeah, you know, Toni and Kai."<br>"Why on earth would you want us to come? You've made friends here."  
>"You guys are my friends."<br>"We have no reason to be. We're just a bunch of kids who got ourselves sucked into some weird shit. We're all completely different and have no reason to ever even see each other."  
>"You and Toni have spent the past week and a half entertaining yourselves with the idea of uncovering an international Duel Disk conspiracy."<br>"And now I'm done with that so I have no reason to ever talk to her again and you should do the same and get some of the friends you've made here to go watch High School drop outs covered in paint make idiots of themselves."  
>"First of all, most clowns are actually trained to do what they do; second, don't get me wrong a lot of the girls here are very nice but there just... well-"<br>"Unintelligent."  
>"No, it's just that, to them a big problem is not being able to make it to the mall in time for a sale or that they lost their cell phone but you guys know what it means to deal with things in the real world, you know."<br>"The worst thing that's happened to me in the past 2 Weeks is when we had Meatloaf Night in the cafeteria the other day and I spent the majority of the next day on the toilet."  
>"That's where you were the other day?"<br>"Yup."  
>"So while we were taking a test in history you were-"<br>"Taking a 6 hour dump in the boy's room," That's actually true.  
>"O.K. then, so are you coming or not?"<br>"No and what makes you think Kai and Toni are going to want to come?"  
>"Simple really, I already asked them."<br>"Wait you found them?"  
>"Well don't make it sound like I was looking for a pair of Jackalopes, Toni works for her Dad and Kai was dueling in a basketball court by that bar he told us about."<br>"And they actually said yes?"  
>"Yup, you see unlike you, most people like to enjoy a good laugh."<br>"Chase doesn't laugh at anything."  
>Oh crap Millay's here.<br>"Excuse me but I couldn't help but over here you 2 talking about… what exactly?"  
>"None of your business, Millay."<br>"Well excuse captain Carrot but last time I checked I can talk to Chase whenever I like."  
>"Why you do it, I'll never know."<br>"Oh come on Chase can you honestly say you actually want this little Q-Tip hanging around you?"  
>"As apposed-"<br>"What did you just call me?"  
>"A Q-Tip, your skinny, white and simple."<br>"Oh and what do you mean by simple."  
>Here we go again. All these 2 do is argue, usually with me in the middle, literally."<br>"You heard me simple, simple minded, simple hair style, simple"-  
>"Leave Millay," I say. Personally I've had it with these 2 arguing at each other.<br>"All I was saying was-"  
>"I said leave."<br>When dealing with a bad dog you look them straight in the eye, never change your tone and don't get off topic. The same thing applies to evil 15 year old Blonds.  
>"Fine, I just wanted to make sure you were coming to Alfredo's tomorrow."<br>"Why would I go to some fancy pants Italian restaurant?"  
>"Because my parents will be in town and they want you to be there."<br>Since when did I ever agree to do that?"  
>"Since I told them you said you would 2 weeks ago while you were off doing god knows what."<br>Oh crap.  
>"Now I don't know how I'll explain your… Criminal Mark but I'm sure I'll think of something now-"<br>"Actually I already have plans for tomorrow."  
>"Locking yourself in your room for 6 hours doesn't count as "plans."<br>"I never said that, I'm going to the circus."  
>"Yeah and I'm going to Mars."<br>Risking making the situation worse, I gesture towards Vanessa who raises all 4 tickets towards Millay with a look on her face that almost says "Ha take that you witch!"  
>"Wait so you 2 are going on a date?"<br>"No, just me, her and some friends."  
>"Since when do you even have friends?"<br>"You got your answer, now git!"  
>She looks angry, but at least she's walking away, well more like stomping away.<br>"So your coming after all."  
>"Looks like it."<br>"Hey is there something going on between you and Millay?"  
>"Does it look like there's something going on between us?"<br>"I don't know, it's just that it almost seems like she talks to you like she's your wife or something. I mean she wants you to have lunch with her and her parents for crying out loud."  
>"It's nothing worth giving yourself a headache over. Look, I'm going with the lesser of 2 hells."<br>"Oh come on, I've been to lunch's with my parents rich friends before, you just sit at the end of table, eat something interesting and keep quiet."  
>"Tried it."<br>"What happened?"  
>"If she can't leave anything alone how do you think the people who created her are?"<br>"O.K. then, listen the show starts tomorrow at 2 and me and the others agreed to meet in front of Lincoln Center at 1, got it?"  
>"Shirr," assuming I don't find something more interesting to do along the way, which won't take long.<br>"Oh yeah, the other day a bunch of girls in my third period class who are friends with Millay were talking about how they were going to the same show as us, and we both no Millay is going to ask them if they saw you. Do you want to be there when they tell her not once?"  
>Damn it.<br>"See you tomorrow Chase."  
>Well there both gone, now to think of a way out of this.<br>"We're going to the circus!"  
>Never mind.<br>"Debris Dragon, what do you want?"  
>"Isn't it obvious? I'm happy were going to the circus! I want to see a Lion, and an Elephant, and a-"<br>"Stop talking."  
>"You seem happy."<br>"I don't like Circuses."  
>"You don't like English class but you still go anyways."<br>"Circus's are degrading example of how stupid the human race is."  
>"You say that about everything and second isn't it cool how they're able to tame wild animals like that?"<br>"I don't like the idea of caged animals."  
>"What does that mean? Hey don't walk away from me!"<p>

…

"And now folks may I introduce you all to the amazing, mysterious and magical Mr. Illusion!"  
>If I hear another adjective describing some Norwegian idiot in a stupid costume, I'm going to use some words of my own, words I shouldn't use with small children around.<br>The stupid tent is big, blue, and yellow and looks like its housing a full house of around 1,000 people. So far we've seen a guy on one foot ride on top of a horse, a woman balance a house cat on her head and… well then I fell asleep till intermission. That's when I tried to make my escape but the others caught me and are now holding me against my will.  
>"Oh my god Chase he's going to do magic, he's going to do magic!"<br>And Debris Dragon hasn't shut up since the horse thing.  
>"Oh come on Chase surely you'll enjoy this," says Vanessa.<br>"If I say yes will you and Kai stop sitting in between me."  
>"If me and Vanessa let you sit on the side you'll sneak out."<br>"You don't know that."  
>"You did that before."<br>"I won't do it this time."  
>"Bull shit."<br>"Yeah Chase just have fun, I mean you of all people should believe in magic."  
>"Debris Dragon shut up."<br>"What did you say Chase?"  
>"Nothing Vanessa."<br>I haven't told the others talking to duel spirit thing.  
>"O.K. then everyone, I will not need a few assistance's from the audience!"<br>As if automatically half the audience has their hands up screaming "me, me, me" including Vanessa as well as the jack ass behind me who's kicking me in the back of the of the head.  
>"You with the mullet!"<br>That would be the guy behind me.  
>"Please tell the 4 kids below you to get up here."<br>"Aw man you kids are so-"  
>"Say anything else or touch me again and you die!"<br>Hah, that shut him- "hey Vanessa let me go!"  
>"Come on Chase we have to get down there."<br>"You 3 go and leave me out of this."  
>"Not happening buddy," says Toni.<br>"Ah good now that your all here, granted one of you had to be pulled via his jacket collar, by the way, black leather, straw fedora, and criminal mark, you've got a great fashion sense."  
>This has everyone laughing, granted most of these people are probably dumb enough to laugh at anything, including this guy.<br>He has us on the far left side of ring standing on a platform with just enough room for the 4 of us.  
>"Like with everyone else in this show he has a thick Norwegian accent. The only real differences this guy has from the rest of the performers is the fact that most of the show has been done by women and he has blond hair instead of brown, other than that he's like all the others. Tall and skinny with long hair and pale skin.<br>"Now then, will the 4 of you please tell us all your names, nice and loudly."  
>"I'm Kai."<br>"Toni."  
>"My names Vanessa."<br>"Excuse me, Mr. Straw hat could you please tell us your name."  
>"Jimmy Hoffa."<br>"Fascinating, you look much younger in person Mr. Hoffa. Now then as you all know…"  
>"Chase, what is wrong with you?"<br>Great now Vanessa's whispering in my ear.  
>"I told you I didn't want to come here."<br>"Doesn't mean you have to ruin it for everyone-"  
>"Excuse me, I'm going to need you 2 to pay attention. Now then, I bet the 4 of you are wondering why it is I picked you all for this trick. Well the reason is under that sheet."<br>The sheet he is talking about is covering what looks like a big box. Now the sheet is "magically," via wires, is being lifted up, revealing 4 animals in a large cage.  
>"Now what do the 4 of you notice about these 4 animals? Well believe it or not these animals look a lot like you."<br>Makes sense, me and the tiger obviously show the same desire to kill when we see this guy. Actually all these animals look kind of lifeless to me.  
>"First up Mr. Kai, in front of you is the mighty buffalo! Big and strong and has just the right amount of facial hair."<br>To all those curious, Kai is trying to grow this weird, Tony Stark, goatee thing, to all those who know people with facial hair I now know your pain.  
>"For Ms. Toni, the proud Swan, a creature known for its beauty and strength."<br>He should be careful, when Toni looks proud like she does now she usually starts talking.  
>"Now for Ms. Vanessa, the sleek Tiger, a creature that shows strength and shares its hair color with you."<br>He forgot to mention, big head, can be loud and will probably drive someone crazy enough that they'll shoot her.  
>"And for my good friend Jimmy," What the hell he just took my hat and he's putting it on the fourth animal.<br>"Can you all see the resemblance?"  
>He put my hat on a god damn Porcupine and now he's got the whole tent laughing loud enough to wake up the dinosaurs!<br>"Hey Chase, he got you perfectly," Vanessa says with a laughing tone to her voice.  
>"As you can see both Chase and Steve the Porcupine have pointy black hair, dark eyes, and, from the looks of it, a similar taste in hats."<br>My hair is not that pointy, and Porcupines don't have hair they have quills.  
>"Now as I pointed out before these kids all have something in common with the animals in front of them and in a minute they will gain another. In a minute all 8 of them will vanish and reappear in each other's respective spots. Now then I will now tap on both sides of the stage 3 times."<br>Something strange is going on around here. First Vanessa wins exactly 4 tickets and now all 4 of us are involved in a trick plus the animals, why do these 4? Plus that whole little speech he just gave, it almost sounded rehearsed. Finally the animals themselves, there just sitting there you'd think they'd be moving around in the cage. Instead they're perfectly across from us in the same order we are. I don't care if it's been raised in captivity, a giant man eating tiger is still a giant man eating tiger and no one in their right mind would put one with a tiny Porcupine, a giant bird and basically a giant brown cow. All these animals, they look like they're just ready to die, the tiger especially, I mean for all the life-  
>"Now then I say my magic words, Jeg er forbannet!"<br>Wait what did he just say?  
>The floors given out! Now we're under the stage. It's black as night down here and cold as well and we've landed on some type of cushion thing, plus there's this weird smell, strong to, almost like once it enters my nose it travels to the back of my head and starts hitting everything with a hammer! Now we're moving, fast, I can hear a conveyor belt pulling the cushion and- ah, ah, it feels like something just hit me and that smell is now stronger- we're back up again, this time on the other side of the ring and the animals are where we were.<br>"Behold through the smoke and beyond human understanding these 4 teens have been transported and in their place are there animal look a likes!"  
>Oh god whys the damn crowd so loud all of a sudden and these bright lights, god I knew I hate the circus but now. Oh god my head, and the others they don't look to well either, I mean Vanessa's holding on to my shoulder just to keep standing.<br>"Clearly the teleportation process has left our guests a little loopy but let's gives them a round of applause anyways!"  
>Oh shit that's loud. No, something isn't right, I've got to focus... and figure out... wh, wh, wh-<p>

…

"Oh crap what happened to us?"  
>Was that Toni? Sounds like her... my headaches gone. Yeah that's right, after the magic trick everything seemed louder and brighter and it was hard to stand, but I feel just fine… yeah, we all look better.<br>"I don't get it we fell below stage and then when we came out on the other side we felt all, well... woozy," says Kai.  
>"Wait a minute," he continues, "Did you guys smell something under there, I don't mean like Elephant shit or something, I mean something strong?"<br>"Yeah," says Vanessa, "It smelt kind of like rotten eggs, only even after it went up my nose it felt like it kept going up and started swinging an aluminum bat at my brain."  
>Both I and Toni nod to show we agreed.<br>As for the tent it looks like every ones walking out which means we were out for a little more than an hour and a half but still what on earth could be under the ring that would do something like that to us?  
>"My decks gone," yells Toni, "it was right here in my front pocket and now it's gone!"<br>"Hey mines not in my Wrist Dealer either!"  
>Toni and Kai don't have their decks but what about- "What the hell, Mines gone to!"<br>"Who on earth would take your decks?"  
>"Vanessa isn't it obvious! This whole thing was a trap."<br>"What do you mean a trap?"  
>"Think about it, what were you doing before you were won the tickets?"<br>"I was coming out of the Grocery Store over on 12Th street when this street vendor asked me if I was feeling lucky and told me about the circus."  
>"There's the first problem, for a circus you'd want to attract, say, a mother with her children or a bunch kids who just bought candy not a teenage girl with grocery's."<br>"Now that you mention it when the ball came out I didn't hear anything else inside the wheel."  
>"Plus the minute he started comparing me to a Buffalo and then Toni to a swan, and then a tiger and a Porcupine, the whole thing sounded and felt staged."<br>"And that smell when we went below stage. I swear for a minute down there I felt a hand touch me but it happened so fast." That was Toni, Vanessa's wearing a skirt.  
>"But why'd they steal your decks?"<br>"Come on guys lets go find out." 

…

"Chase when you suggested that we go find out why the circus stole all your decks did it ever occur to you to go to the front desk?"  
>"I told you to go home. If this gets ugly, you'll have a hard time running away in a skirt."<br>"I'd like to figure out what's going on he-"  
>"Quiet."<br>"Chase what are-"  
>"Toni shush."<br>"Did you just-"  
>"Yes I did, now shut up."<br>It's faint but I think I hear Debris Dragon's voice.  
>"Guys this way."<br>"How do you know that?"  
>Oh shit I forgot Toni and the other 2 don't know I can speak with Duel Spirits and I don't really need them thinking I'm crazy right now.<br>"Well... I have this device, no bigger than a Duel Monster Card that I have shuffled into my deck and if my deck is ever out of my Wrist Dealer for more than 10 minutes it starts beeping."  
>"Wait so that's what that noise has been?"<br>Wait, Kai's hearing a noise?  
>"Oh yeah of course, and its coming from over by the animal pen so let's move it before someone See's us."<br>With the speed of the drugs that got us we ran past the half dozen circus trailers and stopped in front of a large tent, for a relatively disturbing reason.  
>"What's it say?"<br>"Beats me Toni, it kind of sounds like something a 4 year old would say."  
>"Kai that's nonsense."<br>"Fine then, what does it mean Vanessa?"  
>"I'm sure it makes sense when you pronounce it. Ka... Kan Gud ha...nåde med, våre sjeler."<br>"May God have mercy on our souls."  
>"Chase, wait a minute, how on earth do you know what that means?"<br>What Vanessa is referring to is a phrase crudely spray painted on the front of the tent in black.  
>"It's Norwegian, much like everyone else in this circus."<br>"And you speak Norwegian, you sleep in our English yet you apparently speak fluent Norwegian?"  
>"Apparently; hey Toni do you remember what the magicians magic words were?"<br>"I don't know, it was something like Jeff... erg-  
>"Jeg er forbannet, it means I am damned."<br>"What the hell have we gotten ourselves into this time?"  
>"I don't know Toni. Listen I want the 3 of you to get out of here. Toni and Kai, I'll bring you your decks as soon I can, and Vanessa there's a good chance there's something dangerous in there, so it-"<br>"I can take care of myself Chase."  
>"And there's no way I'm leaving my Blackwing Deck with you."<br>Kai nods and begins to talk. "You're not going in there alone."  
>"Yeah Chase, it's like I said yesterday, we're friends and friends don't just walk away."<br>"Suit yourselves, but I have a bad feeling I know what's inside this tent."  
>We're all walking through now. Oh my god. I knew I'd see something bad in here but this is horrible and from what I can see the others are wishing they stayed outside.<br>"Th, they looked fine on stage."  
>While Vanessa talks I walk over to the cage where the Porcupine with my hat is. All the Animals are stacked in rusted steel cages, with the exception of the Elephants who aren't even here. Each cage is the same size, tall enough so the Buffalo can stand up, wide enough to fit multiple small animals and long enough just so the Tiger can fit. All the animals are lying down on cold steel and all appear unfed and beaten.<br>"There's something on their necks," it looks almost like a-  
>"What do you think Mr. Rhodes."<br>That voice, it belongs the Ring Master.  
>"What the hell are you up to?"<br>Says Kai to the tiny man and I mean tiny too. He comes up to my elbow yet he's wide enough that it would take all 4 of us in a circle just to match his wideness. He looks pretty old to. He's at least in his early 60's. Why kids clapped for this guy I don't know.  
>"All I am doing is keeping what's important to me safe."<br>"And what makes you say that?"  
>"Listen Rhodes, my show was dying in Norway, so several years ago we came here, the land of opportunity, but you see it isn't easy starting over in this business. Between feeding the animals and getting from place to place we barely made enough to feed ourselves. For almost 200 years my family has run this show and I'll be damned if I let it end with me, so one day I just decided, no one ever said we had to treat the animals like kings. You'd be surprised how much you can save simply by not feeding the animal's every day."<br>"So that's why the magician said I am Damned and why they wrote what they wrote on the tent, you beat the animals so they'll cooperate and probably threaten everyone just to shut them up, but how do you hide it all on stage?"  
>"Simple boy." Up until now he's had his arms concealed by a red cape which is over a red suit, but now he's taking off the cape and it looks like there's a red Duel Disk with Gold accents on his right arm.<br>"Now it may not be as cool looking as that black old fashion one on your arm but I think you'll like this."  
>The Duel Disk is on now… wait a minute it looks he's putting on a card that says Porcupine on it into one of the spell card slots. What the hell! All the broken quills and visible wounds are gone.<br>"Pretty cool huh, the Duel Disk allows me to merely place a card with the respective animals name on it and I'm able to make the animal look just fine, plus to help break their spirits I can do this as well. He's pushing a button on the disk and- the porcupines being electrocuted but the animals so weak it can't even cry out in pain.  
>"O.k. that's it!"<br>Kai is now running towards the guy with his fist up ready to beat this bastard down.  
>"Up, up, up, we wouldn't want me to use the panic button now would we?"<br>He's now stopped shocking the Porcupine and has his finger hanging over another button. This has naturally stopped Kai in his tracks.  
>"What does that button do?" Asks Toni.<br>"There's an emergency feature on my disk. In the event I ever lost control of the animals this button would shock them with well over 3000 volts of electricity. Now back in the days of the Electric Chair, Old Sparky would only need 2000 to kill a fully grown man so if I push this button consider my Circus a fried Exotic Meat Restaurant."  
>"Why are you doing this to us! Neither me, or Chase, or Toni, or even Kai have ever done anything to you!"<br>"It's nothing personal, but the people who gave me this Duel Disk want me to test your skills Mr. Rhodes, in a duel of course."  
>"I don't have my deck."<br>"Catch, you'll find it has all its cards in it."  
>My decks in a case, just got to pull this off and-<br>"Chase you came!"  
>Debris Dragon is all right.<br>"There's something weird about this case he put me in. I was actually trapped inside and couldn't get out!"  
>What the hell is going on here?<br>"Now then, here's the deal. If you can beat me then I will give you my Duel Disk as well as your friends decks, however if you lose I will light the decks on fire and kill all the animals."  
>"What about all that "Family Circus" crap?"<br>"I was promised a completely new batch of animals if I have to kill mine and I know for a fact that these people have deep pockets."  
>"I am not dueling if means that there's any possibility of these animals getting hurt!"<br>"Then I'll kill them anyways, either way I get my new animals."  
>"You're insane!"<br>"You're probably right Rhodes but either way you have till the count of 3 before I light this place up like a Christmas tree. 1... 2.-"  
>"So let me get this straight if I win they live and if I lose they all die?"<br>"Correct."  
>"Then it's time to Duel!"<br>Ring Master  
>"All right then, my circus, my rules, my turn."<br>"Just make it quick."  
>"They were right, you don't mess around. I summon The Ring Master (ATK: 0DEF: 0) in attack mode!"  
>This thing looks like him, only not as old and it has a really long mustache.<br>"I end my turn."  
>Chase<br>All he did was summon that monster.  
>"Chase, be careful," says Kai, "We don't know what that thing can do."<br>Kai's right, I can't risk falling for a Card effect, there's only thing to do.  
>"I summon Elemental Hero Voltic (ATK: 1000DEF: 1500) in attack mode, now Voltic attack, voltic thunder!"  
>As the lightning gets closer The Ring Master raises the whip in its right hand and whips it in the direction of Voltic. What the, Voltic stopped his attack and now he's, he's jumping over to the other side of the field!<br>"Surprised aren't you. I guess I should have mentioned, when you declare an attack against The Ring Master, I can discard a card to take control of your monster for the remainder of the duel."  
>"Not good," starts Toni, "Now any monster that attacks that thing becomes the Ring Master's."<br>"I set 1 card face down and end my turn."  
>Ring Master<br>"I draw. Now then, let us see if I can do this just as well as you. Elemental Hero Voltic attack him directly, voltic thunder!"  
>"Not good enough, I activate my trap, Scrap-Iron Scarecrow, now I can negate your attack and reset my Scarecrow for next turn."<br>"Clever but what are you going to do next time you lose a monster and I have 2 creatures to attack you with!"  
>"That isn't happening."<br>"If you say so, I set 1 card face down and end my turn."  
>Chase<br>"I summon Elemental Hero Burstinatrix (ATK: 1200/DEF: 800) in attack mode! I don't want to do this but I got no choice, Elemental Hero Burstinatrix, Flare Storm on Voltic!"  
>"And I am sorry for the long face your about to have. I play the trap card Attack Guidance Armor! Now I Equip this card to my Ring Master, now all your attacks are redirected towards my Ring Master and you know what that means, for the price of one card I gain control of your monster."<br>Damn it now he's got another one of my monsters. "I'm throwing down a face down and calling it a turn."  
>Ring Master<br>"Now let's see what you have waiting for me, Voltic attack!"  
>"Oh no you don't I discard my Kuriboh! Now all my damage from this attack is 0 (4000-4000)."<br>"And you're going to negate Burstinatrix's attack so I guess I'll just end it with that."  
>Chase<br>Great I can't attack, but I can still inflict damage.  
>"I summon Elemental Hero Lady Heat (ATK: 1300DEF: 1000) in attack mode and end my turn. Oh yeah and during my end phases, Lady Heat hits you with 200 points of damage!" (4000-3800)  
>Ring Master<br>"Clever, your new plan is merely to just swarm your field with heroes until my points are at 0. Safe but it isn't going to save you for much longer. I play the spell card Terraforming. Now I can add a Field Spell to my hand. Now I'm going to activate it! I play the Field Spell Ring of the great Master!"  
>We look like we're back in the empty ring only it's brighter in here.<br>"What does this do."  
>"You'll see soon enough, but for now I'm going to end my turn."<br>Chase  
>"I have a bad feeling about this."<br>"You should, because now the effect of my Field Spell activates!"  
>"Hey my Lady Heat is attacking!"<br>"Correct, thanks to the effect of my Field Spell, all attack position monsters you control have to attack."  
>Great now he's got 3 of my monsters.<br>"I summon Quillbolt Hedgehog (ATK: 800/DEF: 800) in defense mode and that's it for me."  
>Ring Master<br>"Hah! That's all you've got? All these exciting heroes and you give me a rodent. I think I've seen the tiger try and catch bigger things."  
>"Make your move and I'll show you just how strong my rodent is!"<br>"If you insist, Elemental Hero Voltic destroy his Hedgehog!"  
>Damn it, he electrocuted my Hedgehog.<br>"Now Burstinatrix, attack him directly! (4000-2800)Now by ending my turn you take 200 points of damage for each of my hero's!" (2800-2200)  
>Chase<br>"Here goes something," this works, "I summon Elemental Hero Wildheart. (ATK: 1500/DEF: 1600) Now Wildheart attack Voltic, wild slash!"  
>"Did you forget about The Ring Master."<br>"Not at all, that's why I'm using a monster that isn't affected by traps like your Attack Guidance Armor."  
>"True, so I'm going to discard Ring Master's Assistant, now I can redirect your attack to The Ring Master!"<br>"Oh crap, now how am I supposed to defend myself?"  
>"Oh don't worry, due to the effect of Ring Master's Servant I can't conduct my next battle phase, so is there anything else you'd like to do?"<br>"I end."  
>Ring Master<br>"Now then, seeing as I'm now out of room for your monsters I can no longer use Ring Masters effect and with only 0 ATK points he'd be easy picking for even your weakest monsters; what to do? Oh, I know, I switch Ring Master to defense mode. Now I play the Equip Spell Mist Body."  
>"Now your monster can't be destroyed by battle."<br>"Oh so you know what it does? So then you know what Lady Heat does now that I'm ending my turn." (2200-1600)  
>Chase<br>"Now what will you do? I have 5 monsters, 4 of which are yours and even if you can stop me from attacking next turn it won't take long to lower your life points thanks to Lady Heat, so what will you do?"  
>"This, I summon Summoner Monk (ATK: 800DEF: 1600)!"  
>The blue skinned, purple cloaked wearing Monk went onto the field, and as he finishes materializing I can see my monsters he's controlling smiling.<br>"What could this thing possibly do to help you?"  
>"Watch and learn. I activate Summoner Monk's special ability! I send the Legacy of a Hero in my hand to the graveyard so I can special summon My Debris Dragon (Level: 4ATK: 1000/DEF: 2000)!"  
>"O.k., its revenge time for kidnapping us!"<br>"I don't know why that monster was talking but there's no way you can win with those 2 pathetic monsters."  
>"Then let's make it 3! Now because Debris Dragon is a Tuner Monster I can special summon a good friend, Quillbolt Hedgehog! (Level: 2ATK: 800/DEF: 800)Next I activate the trap Level Returner! This allows me to reduce Summoner Monk from a level 4 to a level 2!"  
>"Wait a minute, you aren't going to-"<br>"You bet; I tune My Debris Dragon, Quillbolt Hedgehog, and Summoner Monk!"  
>Debris Dragon flew like a bullet into the air and as it spread its wings it dematerialized and turned into 4 large green rings. At that moment Summoner Monk and Quillbolt Hedgehog jumped into the air and dematerialized into 4 bright stars that fashioned themselves equally within the rings (4+2+2=8) and with a burst of light, "I synchro summon Stardust Dragon (ATK: 2500DEF: 2000)!"  
>"Impossible, I, I, was told that you had a powerful deck, but how on earth do you have a Stardust Dragon! Only Yusei Fud-"<br>"Why don't you tell me what's going on here while Stardust is forced to attack your Ring Master."  
>"Very well then, a year ago we were dying. I had tried every idea I could think of until one day the idea just came to me that I could save money by not buying as much food or having enough trainers for the animals, and then, as if by the will of God, I was approached by a man who simply said that he was a representative of an origination known simply as Segas."<br>"What's Segas?"  
>"He didn't say, all he told me was that his organization had been watching me for a while and felt that he had the perfect product for me."<br>"And you didn't find that just a little bit strange?"  
>"You don't know what it's like to be a desperate man. I was shown pictures of you. You are just a boy who goes to a good school, has nice clothes and deck full of rare cards. You don't know what it's like to be in the most god forsaken parts of the country, afraid that you may not have a meal tonight where those stupid animals did or worse that the people who loan you money find you and make you the animals next meal. These people gave me a chance to gain back my business with no one finding out how and if they want me to hand them over 4 children then I'll do it."<br>"So there watching us?"  
>"Most likely," he says this as if it's the simplest thing in the world.<p>

"Then I'm going to show them something good because I'm setting a card face down and ending my turn."  
>Ring Master<br>"I dra-"  
>"This is Sector Security; we have the building surrounded; Come out with your hands up!"<br>And we're off. This guy now looks frantic thanks to Cops we just heard from the outside.  
>"What the hell is going on here!"<br>"Take a look around and you'll notice something's missing."  
>He's frantically scanning the room now, while the 3 of us are smiling at him.<br>"Where's the red headed girl!"  
>"Simple really, as soon we went searching for our decks I told her that if worse comes to worse I'll use my Duel Disk for a distraction. I had feeling I was going to need to duel so I made sure I had everything set so I could control the situation."<br>"Control, I've been winning!"  
>"And because you've been winning you've been distracted which gave her the perfect chance to slip away, luckily Kai and Toni kept quiet so you wouldn't look over."<br>"That's it these animals are fried."  
>"Stop bull shitting me. The other reason you didn't notice the girl leave was because you've been staring at that screen on the top of your disk every chance you get. I'm guessing you've used it to fry animals so many times your afraid that if you put too much strain on it, one of those shocks might just get you instead of the animals."<br>"I'm not afraid of anything!"  
>"Yes you are, that's why you make threats. You're afraid of your performers so you probably have them thinking you'll kill them or something. Combine that with the fact that you torture the animals that pretty much makes you the definition of a coward."<br>"How's that?"  
>"You're too afraid to actually deal with a problem so you just make everyone involved with the problem afraid of you, but this ends here with the trap card Battle Mania!"<br>"What does that do?"  
>"Simple, now all your monsters, accept Wildheart for obvious reasons have to attack me."<br>"What! But, but, why?"  
>"Just watch, now Lady Heat attack Stardust Dragon, heat kick! (3800-2600) You're up next Burstinatrix, Flare Storm! (2600-1300) And last but not least, Voltic, voltic thunder!" (1300-0)<br>Winner: Chase Loser: Ring Master  
>"This is Sector Security, we're coming in!"<br>"You bastard! Fine then, if I have to go to the Facility then let there be fire!"  
>He raised his arm high in the air and as Security ran in he slammed his hand down on his disk, looking fully prepared to make something suffer, but, nothing. He did it again, and again, and again, before being grabbed by a Security officer.<br>"What the hell did you do Rhodes?"  
>"Me nothing; I've encountered a Duel Disk made by these "Segas" people once before. His stopped working the minute he lost, so I just assumed the same principles applied."<br>As they drag him out, I walk over to the Porcupine cage.  
>"Don't worry little guy, I'm not going to hurt you."<br>I try to stick my hand through the cage door only to find that to open the lock all I had to do was to push a button. Son of a bitch didn't even have a good quality lock.  
>"So Chase" starts Vanessa, "now what?"<br>"Well, looks like I've got someone else who's after me."  
>"Wait a minute," starts Toni, "You think this guy and that Charlie kid got there Duel Disk from the same people?"<br>"Only one way to find out."

…

"Chase why did the Porcupine follow you all the way here?"  
>"Beats me Vanessa, personally I think it's because we've both worn this hat so we share a sort of... brotherhood."<br>"For what, silly hats, it's a porcupine for crying out loud," says Kai.  
>"His name is Steve."<br>"Chase you can't keep it," says Vanessa.  
>"Why not."<br>"What possible reason could you have for keeping a Porcupine?"  
>"What possible reason could you have for never leaving me alone? Anyways, you said this is where you won the contest?"<br>"Yeah, this is the only Grocery Store where I can find Cocoa Puffs."  
>"They still make-"<br>Toni was just interrupted by a woman wearing a shirt that has the stores logo on it coming outside.  
>"Can I help you kids?"<br>She looks over at Vanessa.  
>"Hey I know you, your that girl who comes in and buys Cocoa Puffs."<br>"Guilty, listen I was wondering if you could tell me about the guy who had the contest set up outside your store yesterday."  
>"Contest?" She's looking at us with a confused look on her face. "What contest?"<br>"The contest, the one that a guy had outside your store yesterday," says Vanessa.  
>"Tall and skinny with thick glasses and black hair, the woman asks."<br>"Yeah, that's him."  
>"He was running a contest? I walked outside a little while after you left and found him packing something into a back pack. He had all my flowers under this table to my right, so I chased him away for about a block before I lost him."<br>"He didn't leave anything behind?"  
>"No I'm afraid not, why?"<br>"Oh nothing, he was just pulling a prank on me and my friends over here."  
>"Oh well, at least there was no harm done. Can I help you all with anything else?"<br>We all shake our heads.  
>"Well then, have a nice day, and nice Porcupine."<br>She walked back into her shop and I turned around to face the others.  
>"Chase, what have you gotten yourself into?"<br>"I don't know Vanessa, I really don't know."  
>Next Time: Kidnapped<br>I've got my Runner going as fast as it can go with Kai close behind. Damn it we've only got 2 minutes to-  
>"Chase look out, there's a truck!"<p> 


	21. 21 Kidnapped

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

By Kevin Jones

Turn 21- Kidnapped

"Lady, Gentlemen, and... a Porcupine… Chase why do you still have that thing?"  
>"Toni I have given this guy every chance to leave and he still chooses to stay with me."<br>"Where on earth does he sleep?"  
>Kai asks, you know it's interesting, Toni asked us all to come here to Vanessa's place in the Tops and it seems like the only thing on every one's mind appears to be me and Steve. Now as for all of you who are considering getting a pet Porcupine it's not as hard as it seems, however I think its illegal so don't get one just to show off to your friends because someone will get jealous enough to call the cops. I really don't know why Steve started to followed me after Sector Security was through questioning us. I forgot to close the cage door and Security was too busy to notice 1 little Porcupine walk away. Ever since then he's been with me. He sleeps on the mattress where a roommate would go, if I had one. Plus he doesn't eat much, seriously I just sneak a salad out of the cafeteria and he's good for the rest of the day. He doesn't do a whole lot during the day. He's more active at night so I just wait for the coast to be clear and let him run around. It's only been a few days but his black color is already returning which means I can add Animal Rehabilitator to my list of talents; suck it Dog Whisperer.<br>"That thing better not pee on my couch."  
>"Don't worry he's house broken."<br>"How do you house break a Porcupine?"  
>"Beats me; this couch is white, the mattress he sleeps on is white, there for I can conclude that he doesn't like to piss on white."<br>"That's ridiculous, if he's pees on my couch and my parents find out they'll kill you."  
>"Don't you mean they'll kill you?"<br>"No, they hate you. All I have to do is say the urine stain has something to do with you and they'll figure out a way to put you back in the Facility."  
>"Why on earth would your parents hate me?"<br>Every ones now burning holes in me with their eyes, as if to say, it's- oh yeah, the whole risking her life thing.  
>"O.K. fairs enough, but where are they now, if they walk in they might not like the idea of us doing something illegal in their house."<br>"There on a business trip."  
>"Business trip?"<br>"Yes Chase, a business trip!"  
>The words business and Trip don't seem to make her happy.<br>"Enough about Porcupines and Parents and Chase where do you get off on saying we're about to do something illegal?"  
>"You have giant, black, computer from what looks like the 1960's on a glass coffee table that sounds like it's about shatter."<br>"That doesn't mean we're doing something illegal."  
>"About half an hour ago you called us and told us to come straight here and to not tell anybody."<br>"Kai, this is important."  
>"Was it so important that you made me have to come out of the shower, let you in and also help you carry this thing in here, while in a towel."<br>"You got dressed eventually."  
>"Can we jest get this over with."<br>"Not a problem Chase."  
>"Good because if we're going to do something illegal we might as well get it over with."<br>"Keep it up Chase and I won't use this to help us catch Segas."  
>"Wait what?"<br>Now we're all off the couch, wide eyed, while Toni just gives us a devilish smirk in return.  
>"Looks like I've gotten all your attention. Now where was I...? Oh yeah, Lady, Gentlemen, and Porcupine; may I present you with the Windows 1989 Radio Wave Scanner!"<br>First of all, the only time I've ever even heard of this thing is in a history book, and second, from the looks of things Kai and Vanessa have as much of an idea of what's going on here as Steve.  
>"Toni where on earth did you even find this thing?"<br>"Chase, believe it or not I can find rare stuff to."  
>"Then where did you find this?"<br>"Sorry Kai, I'm not allowed to tell you that. Now then, this baby was built during the Cell Phone brain tumor scare of the late 80's. The fear was that radiation given off by cell phones was causing people to receive Brain Tumors. It all later turned out to be paranoia, but not after Microsoft built these things so company's would be able to track cell phone waves to make sure that people who developed Brain tumors could be told it was their own fault and not the company that told them they needed the phone in the first place."  
>God bless the money grubbing insurance companies.<br>"So how will this help us?"  
>"Simple Kai, Duel Disks are constantly admitting signals to Satellites all over the world. These signals can be used to watch a duel, track somebody, interrupt a duel and probably hundreds of more things the government won't tell us that these signals allow them to do. What makes the Duel Disks used by both the Ring Master and that Charlie kid different is that they don't admit the same signal as our Duel Disks but instead admit a different signal. That's why we couldn't get anything off this thing."<br>"I'm still lost," says a confused Vanessa.  
>"Think of it like this, my Duel Disk is built like my I-Pod, the one Charlie used is built like an old fashioned 8-track tape player."<br>I get it, "so basically these Duel Disks admit a signal using technology that's too old for modern day computers to detect. Clever, which brings up the question, who are we dealing with?"  
>"Glad you brought that up. You see even though these Duel Disks stop working after their user loses a duel they still admit a small signal and this baby, though old as hell, can still pick up even the tiniest signals from a compatible computer."<br>"What do we hope to get from this?"  
>"Simple Kai," I say, " Sector Security can't do anything and since I'm already a target of these guys finding more people with these Duel Disks can get me answers."<br>"Chase, this is dangerous," says Vanessa, "and either way why can't security do anything?"  
>"Because the night before Hans Lebowski, A.K.A The Ring Master, was arraigned, he hung himself in his jail cell."<br>Now all eyes are on me, and every ones mouths are practically on the ground.  
>"How, how do you know that?"<br>"I have a friend who knows stuff that Sector Security doesn't let us know."  
>"Why would he kill himself?"<br>God Vanessa asks a lot of questions.  
>"I don't know, all I was told was that before he died he kept ranting about how when they come for him they'll give him a fate worse than death."<br>"Segas" starts Kai, "but either way, what could these guys possibly do to him while he's in the Facility?"  
>"Who knows, but if Toni turns this contraption on, I might be able to get one step closer to finding out."<br>I gesture to Toni who takes a deep breath before placing her hand over the on switch.  
>"Hold on a minute!"<br>Vanessa has just yelled and she's now marching over next to Toni with an angry look on her face.  
>"Chase this is dangerous!"<br>"Didn't you say that already."  
>"This isn't a joke, I'm serious! A man was already scared enough of these Segas people that he thought Suicide was better then maybe dealing with them. Same thing with Charlie, no one has seen or heard from him since you and he dueled."<br>"Doesn't mean he's dead."  
>"Well, apparently he and his family are spooked enough that they pulled him out of school."<br>"There scared, nor are either of these 2 guys intelligent."  
>"Doesn't mean that these Segas people may not be dangerous."<br>"Funny, last time I did something that could get me killed I told you to stay away and you wouldn't listen."  
>"I admit, last time, I was to absorbed with the idea of getting to be James Bond for a while and by the time I realized just how dangerous it all was it was too late to get out. Now you're trying to go and risk your life again and for what, because you need a puzzle!"<br>"Maybe your right."  
>She probably is right, but then again Kai, Toni and Steve could do something instead of just staring at us.<br>I flip the switch on and the giant refrigerator slowly starts grumbling.  
>"Well there's no turning back now."<br>Says Kai who is now staring at the machine, along with me and Toni, were hoping it does more than just beep and grumble. Vanessa is trying to look away but I can tell she's just as interested as we are. Steve has now jumped off the couch and is by the front door curled up in a ball, apparently he doesn't like the noi- "is this thing smoking!"  
>"Don't worry Chase, it's suppose to do that."<br>"To-" the screens working, it looks like an old fashion radar screen. there's even a large yellow line going around in a circle with a yellow dot flashing in the upper left hand corner.  
>"So does this mean it is working?"<br>"Yeah it does Kai, but what are the chances that it's getting a signal only… about half a mile away."  
>"Wait, what?" Now Vanessa's interested.<br>"Yeah, the range on this thing is about half a mile."  
>Toni appears to have a nice long smile on her face, while both Kai and Vanessa are starting to look worried, I on the other hand just know that it's time to get to work.<br>"Toni, since you have a location is it possible for you to hack the disk by pinpointing the signal?"  
>"I could but..."<br>"But what?"  
>"Well I was thinking about what Nes over here has been talking about...and... Well... she does have a point."<br>"You guys don't have to get involved, I'd just like an idea what's going on."  
>Toni turns her head towards Kai, then towards Vanessa, and now towards me. My guess is she's looking for some form of approval from the other 2.<br>"Well here we go."  
>Toni pulls out her Lap Top from her back pack. She then takes a cord and places one end into her computer and the other end into the giant grumbling box.<br>"O.k., it looks like it's a building about half a mile from here on its first floor. According to my computer, which is always right, the apartment is designated as 1A and is in the name of Tom and Caroline Keen."  
>"The Keen's?"<br>"Vanessa you know these people?" Says Kai as he joins the 3 of us from the couch to the other side of the table.  
>"Yeah, they came over here with their 6 year old Daughter selling girl scout cookies the other day."<br>"Why would they have one of these disks?"  
>"Chase, don't go assuming anything! These are good, happy, ordinary, people and the last thing they need is you-"<br>"We've got audio!"  
>"Go for it."<br>"Chase!"  
>"Vanessa, we can figure this all out now. Toni please play the audio."<br>"What the hell, here we go."  
>We're all staring at the small computer, waiting for it to give us are pot of gold…<br>"Please, leave us alone, we won't call the police, just go!"  
>The voice sounds like that of a grown woman, probably the mother, yelling at somebody while crying.<br>"Can't do that, You see your way too hot for me to leave me now."  
>This voice sounds like a man, a big man with a sadistic tone and as if he's enjoying this woman's screaming.<br>"O.k., I've heard enough!"  
>"Chase where are you going?"<br>I'm heading over there! Toni, e-mail the coordinates to my Runner!"  
>"Wait a minute Chase we have to call Sector Security."<br>"No time!"  
>"I agree with Chase, I'm going to."<br>Kai and I are now running on to the deck where our Runners are parked.  
>"According to my screen Toni gave us the coordinates."<br>There's no time to talk, I quickly turn on my Runner. I take off as fast as I can, hoping that nothing on the Runner stops working, which tends to happen a lot.

As we approach the building, we quickly park are Runners behind a bush.  
>We both slowly dismount our Runners and edge ourselves to the side of the bush.<br>"We need to be careful," whispers Kai.  
>"I know that, but I don't see anything from over here."<br>"These people might have known the intruder, in which case we can't be sure that there even still here."  
>"Will know in a second."<br>"Wait chase-"  
>I quickly dash through the pool area. This building looks exactly the same as Vanessa's, even down to where the chairs are placed around the pool.<br>I hide behind the door before entering. In theory, if all the Tops buildings are designed the same then 1A, the same apartment Vanessa lives in, should be the first door to the right.  
>I slowly move my head so I can see through the sliding door. From what I can see it looks like all the doors are closed except for one I'm looking for.<br>I pull the sliding door open and quickly sprint to the open door. According to the door, this definitely is Apartment 1A. I don't hear anything inside but that doesn't mean anything. I slowly peak through the door to find the place a mess. Everything is on the floor; it almost looks like someone threw everything- actually considering the situation that really doesn't seem all that improbable.

The coffee Table has been turned upside down, the couch has all its cushions missing, there's broken glass all over the floor and it I think I see a note on the phone.  
>"Debris Dragon, you there?"<br>"Yeah I'm right here."  
>Debris Dragon has now materialized next to me, his face shocked like mine.<br>"Go look through the apartment to see if anyone is still here."  
>"Got it, you should probably call Sector Security."<br>"Right."  
>I hate to say it but I think I'm going to need to trust Security for this one, even-<br>"Chase forget that call."  
>"Why's that?"<br>"Because this Post-it note here on the phone is addressed to you."  
>"Wait, what?"<br>"It says 'to Chase Rhodes' and the answering machine is blinking."

I walk over to the phone which seems to be the only thing that's not on the ground.  
>"Good morning Mr. Rhodes, as you can see this apartment has had a little, well "redecorating." All thanks to another one of our candidates. The man who has committed this crime is named Ron Herman. The woman of this home use to be his wife, in fact her daughter actually belongs to him, not her current husband. It sounds like something you'd expect to see on day time T.V. right. Most likely he's kidnapped the mother, the Father and the daughter or there all dead, we haven't talked to him in a while. You have to understand we have been putting a lot of our interest in to you so we really don't care what this man does but we knew he was planning this today so we figured we could use his insanity to our advantage. If you've checked this message then it means the game can begin. Now then, from what he's told us he's bringing them to his apartment which is at a place where you will find products from all over the world without even having to leave the city but he has to be careful because if he walks too far he'll be sleeping with the fishes. Good luck Mr. Rhodes and by the way, don't try calling Sector Security. We're watching the red head's apartment and it would be a shame if we had to call Herman and inform him that security is after him, then how would we get the data we need on you?"<br>"Chase," says Debris Dragon, "what's going on here?"  
>"I have no idea, I seriously have no idea." <p>

...

We're back at the apartment, trying to figure out what to do next.  
>"Oh my god why on earth is this happening, and are you sure there watching my place?"<br>"I'm not sure, but I don't think it would be wise to test that theory."  
>"Well now what are we suppose to do?"<br>Say's Toni, she and Vanessa are sitting on the couch, with Kai on a red Recliner while I stare out the window, maybe I'll get lucky and the clouds will give me an idea.  
>"Well I guess were on borrowed time then."<br>"No shit Kai, this lunatic is holding a family hostage and the people who gave him the power to do so have left us with the possibility that if we call the guys who'd actually know what to do in a situation like this then we might end up killing this family!"  
>"Hey don't you-... what was the clue he told you?"<br>"A place where you will find products from all over the world without even having to leave the city but he has to be careful because if he walks to far he'll be sleeping with the fishes. Why, does that mean something to you?"  
>"It just might. Vanessa, do you have a map of the city?"<br>"In the drawer here in the end table."  
>Kai jolts over and opens the drawer; he then unfolds the map and places it on the glass Coffee Table. All 3 of us get up and walk over to the table, expecting the answer to pop out of the map.<br>"Well, what is it?"  
>"Glad you asked Toni. This guy lives by the docks over on the East River."<br>"And you know that how?"  
>"The East River Docks has a history of ships from all over the world, it also has a history of mob killings."<br>"And you think that in one of the biggest cities in the world you can pinpoint the one place where this guy is just by using simple logic? Wow that's like something I would of read in a book."  
>"Enough with the books! Now that we know where he is we can go there."<br>"Hold on a minute Chase," starts Vanessa, "you can't just go running in there without a plan."  
>"There's no time."<br>"If you just go run in there, he'll kill you."  
>"And if I do nothing, he'll kill them. I'm sure I can beat him."<br>"You think you'll have to duel him! For Christ sake you think you can solve this whole thing using a Card Game!"  
>"That worked with the last guy."<p>

"But this is different. This guy hasn't been put up to anything. This guy genuinely decided to do this today and this strange evil group who gave him the tools to doing this and have left the only option for him being stopped to you just so they could pass their own agenda!"  
>"And when all is said and done, those people are still in danger. Now Kai, are you coming?"<br>Kai nods and is now walking with me as we leave the apartment.

…

We're only about half a mile from the docks. According to Toni, a signal similar to the one coming from the apartment is on the bottom floor of building 45 which is luckily coming up-  
>"Charge running low, charge running low."<br>Oh shit, that was from the Runner, I knew I needed to get my Yusei Gear recharged but I thought I could wait until after I left Vanessa's place, but then again that was before all this started. I've got my Runner going as fast as it can go with Kai close behind. Damn it we've only got 2 minutes to-  
>"Chase look out there's a truck!"<br>Damn it, I've somehow made it onto the other side of the road. I quickly bear to the right just narrowly missing the 18 Wheeler, however I had to move so quickly I'm about to hit the guard rail. I hit the break and begin to stop, which means I'm about to fly into the air, as the wheels leave the pavement I quickly pull the leaver starting the wheels again, I then jerk myself backwards forcing the Runner back on the ground, allowing me to steady myself and continue moving.  
>"We're here."<br>I stop my Runner in response to Kai's words.  
>"What the hell is wrong with you!"<br>"The road was empty so I figured I could increase my speed by staying in the middle of the road."  
>"So you risk death, just go a little bit faster!"<br>"My Runner was running out of power. If I didn't do that then I would have run out juice a few minutes ago."  
>"If you keep this up then you're going to get yourself killed!"<br>"If I do nothing then a kid dies."  
>"You act like nothing fazes you, so why on earth does this have you so tense! It's a safe bet we're not being watched right now!"<br>"I'm not taking that risk! Now are you coming or not?"

The 2 of us stop our running. The inside of the building we're in is dirty. Dirty as in I think I a beer can from World War 2 on the floor next to old newspapers which is under faded lead paint walls.  
>"O.k. Chase now I'm sure you've put us in a trap."<br>The apartment in front of us has a post-it note on it that reads "Dear Mr. Rhodes, inside here is Mr. Herman. As far as we know he has the family inside. We've alerted him that you are here and he is fully prepared to duel you. I hope you well; farewell."  
>"I told you I needed to duel him."<br>"And I can't believe I came with you. This is a trap and if this guy doesn't kill us then Segas will."  
>"Let's-<br>"I knuw you re ut there."  
>The heavy voice we can here sounds slurred, probably from taking a little too much liquid courage.<br>"You ca com i now."  
>"Hold it Chase, I'll go in first."<br>"I'm the one who has to duel this guy."  
>"True, but I'm more experienced in dealing with drunks then you are."<br>With that Kai turns the knob. We walk into a dark apartment. The floor is littered with empty beer bottles, old food containers and pieces of paper that look like they have... It's a woman and a child. Some of the pictures have a man in them however they all appear to have his face cut out."  
>"I wa tol tha yo, humph, woul come here."<br>"Where are the people you stole?"  
>"They in ther"<br>He points the liquor bottle in his pale white left hand towards a locked bathroom door.  
>"Cary wa a bad wif, she neve do as I say. Whe she get pregnant she ran away but I fine her here in Ne Yor. She cam all the way fro Missi-Missis-Mississippi to New York all jus to be wit some Coon but I find her and now I have her back, and we will alwa be a famil no matter what."<br>"You-  
>"Easy Chase, we don't know what this guys capable of.<br>Now if I'm correct you expect to duel my friend here?"  
>"Righ, I was told tha if I duel you then they'll stop you or anyone else from taking my family away."<br>"There not-"  
>"Easy Chase, that's right, if you can beat Chase over here then you can leave with your family, but if he wins then you have to let them, and us, go."<br>"That's what I was told."  
>"Chase, Kai begins as he whispers in my ear, "you keep him occupied. I'll try and figure out a way to get them out of here, got it."<br>"Fine, first thing we should figure out is why his speech is no longer slurred."  
>"Well what's it going to be?"<br>"Let the duel begin."  
>Herman<br>"Since it's my apartment I'll go first."  
>"Fine with me."<br>"I summon Battle Footballer (ATK: 1000/DEF: 2100) in defense mode. Next I set 2 cards face down and end my turn."  
>Chase<br>His giant robotic line backer has a strong defense but I should be able to use Gaia in order to plow right through-  
>"I activate my trap Price summon! Now you can't activate spell cards for the remainder of your turn but in exchange you now have to summon 2 monsters from your hand.<br>Why on earth would he play that card? If he activated it during his turn he could have doubled his field. I have to be cautious.  
>"I summon Elemental HERO Wildheart (ATK: 1500DEF: 1600) and Elemental HERO Necroshade (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1800) in defense mode. Next I set 1 card face down and end my turn!"  
>Herman<br>"First up I play Tribute to the explosion."  
>"I've never heard of that card."<br>"Well you're going to like it. Now by destroying Battle Footballer I can destroy your face down!"  
>Damn it, he took out my Torrential Tribute.<br>"Now because you control 2 monsters while I control 0 I can summon Power Invader (ATK: 2200/DEF: 0) without tribute."  
>So that's why he used Price Summon on me instead of himself but I can tell there's more to this then just that.<br>"Next I activate my second face down, straight to 0. Now both your monsters are switched to attack mode and have their ATK points made to 0 until the end phase!"  
>Oh shit. (1600-0)<br>"Next I play Double Attack," oh crap he's attempting an OTK, "Now by discarding my level 6 Air Eater I can have Power Invader attack twice this turn, now Power Invader attack Necroshade!"  
>Necroshade tried to stay on guard but the large purple monster grabbed and slammed it to the ground. (4000-1800)<br>"Now it's time for me to win, Power Invader, smasher slam!"  
>Wildheart raised his sword but the monster through it aside and punched him in the stomach.<br>"Hey how do you still have life points?"  
>"Simple, Wildheart isn't effected by traps so he never even changed battle positions."<br>"Oh fuck him! I place 1 card face down and end my turn."  
>Chase<br>"Alright then, I play E-Emergency Call. This allows me to add Elemental HERO Bladedge to my hand. Now thanks to the fact that you put Necroshade in my graveyard I can summon Bladedge without tribute. (ATK: 2600/DEF: 1800) Now Bladedge attack his Power Invader, slice and dice attack!"  
>"Sorry but I've got another trap! I play Fiendish Chain!"<br>"Chains are not flying from the walls and now have Bladedge captured with him on his knees."  
>"What have you done!"<br>"Simple kid, now that Fiendish Chain is in play, Bladedge can't attack and it can't activate its effects."  
>"Come on Chase, use your head!"<br>"I look over towards Kai, from what I can see I think he's picking the lock with a set of lock picks he keeps on his key ring.  
>"I set 1 card face down and end my turn."<br>Herman  
>"Here we go! I play Monster Reborn! This allows me to special summon Air Eater from the graveyard! (ATK: 2100DEF: 1600) Next I summon Chainsaw Insect (ATK: 2400/DEF: 0) in attack mode. Now Power Invader attack his Bladedge."  
>"In case you haven't noticed Bladedge still has more ATK points."<br>"Not quite, I play Half Shut! Now Bladedge can't be destroyed for the rest of the turn but in exchange his ATK points are now halved!" (2600-1300)  
>Power invader Punch's Bladedge hard in the stomach forcing Bladedge back on his knees. (1800-900)<br>"Chainsaw Insect, your next!"  
>"I activate the trap Scrap Iron Scarecrow, negating your attack."<br>"True but Air Eater still has its attack! (900-100) Next I play Ookazi which hits you with 800 points of damage, which wins me the duel!"  
>"Not quite! I discard Hanewata from my hand, making my damage 0!"<br>"I do love overwhelming people but I'll let you take your turn in the mean time."  
>Chase<br>"I bet you like overwhelming people don't you!"  
>"What's that suppose to mean?"<br>"Chase."  
>"You like it don't you! The idea of controlling people because if they don't do as you say you'll beat them up, that's what you like isn't coward?"<br>"What did you call me!"  
>"You heard me, your nothing but a controlling, pathetic, coward!"<br>"Why you little bastard, as soon as this is over, your dead!"  
>Why is this duel so important to him? Another strange thing I'd like to find out is why it looks like he has glowing red circles around his brown irises?<br>"This duel is going to end in my victory! I play Legacy of a Hero, now because I have 2 level 4 or higher HERO monsters in my graveyard; I get to draw 3 cards."

Damn it, I only drew 2 out of the 3 cards needed to pull this plan off… wait a minute, I might still have a chance.

"I play Double Reborn, now we both select 1 monster in our respective graveyards and special summon them in attack mode.  
>"I guess that means I get my Battle Footballer back."<br>"And I'm going with Wildheart! Now I play Polymerization allowing me to fuse Bladedge and Wildheart in order to summon Elemental HERO Wildedge (ATK: 2600/DEF: 2300) in attack mode!"  
>"Oh please, even if you attack my Footballer I'll still have more life points than you."<br>"True, but lucky for me, Wildedge can attack all of your monsters!"  
>"That's a good effect considering all you did was give your Wildheart your Bladedge's armor but I'll still have life points after that!"<br>"We'll see about that. Wildedge, slice his Battle Footballer, Scimitar Slash! (4000-2400) I'm not done yet, now Wildedge deflate his Power Invader!" (2400-2000)  
>"My best card!"<br>"Gone, just like all your actual power! Now Wildedge send his Air Eater back to the scrap heap! (2000-1500) Now Squash his insect!" (1500-1300)  
>"Looks like it didn't work and with only 100 life points left you'll lose them easily, and when that happens I'll snap your little chicken neck!"<br>"Don't forget, because your Chainsaw Insect was involved in battle I get to draw a card!"  
>Come on deck, I've only got one card that can save me, but if I don't draw it now then were all good as dead… Yes.<br>"Now I activate the Quick-Play, De-Fusion! Now by returning Wildedge to my Extra-Deck I can special summon both Wildheart and Bladedge from my graveyard!"

"But I don't have anything to defend monsters!"

"No shit, you stupid Red Neck, now Bladedge end this!"  
>Bladedge runs quickly and slashes through Herman, if only his blades were real. (1300-0)<br>Winner: Chase Loser: Herman  
>"You, you, all I want was my popety!"<br>He's coming straight for me!  
>"Mind if I cut in!"<br>Kai knees the man in his left hip; Kai then makes a fist with his left hand and punches the bold man hard in the face.  
>As he hits the floor with a loud thud Kai grabs one of the beer bottles on the floor and smashes it against the wooden arm of the chair next to him.<br>"I think he's out but I should probably keep an eye on him! I got the door unlocked; now get in there and see how they are!"  
>I quickly run over and open the door and-... What the hell?<br>"Chase, how are they?"  
>"There-there-there... not even here."<br>"What do you mean?"  
>"Come over here and see for yourself."<br>"I can't just leave this guy here!"  
>"Don't worry, he can't hurt anybody."<br>"Chase, what are you-... what the hell is going on here."  
>There dummies, just ordinary shop dummies. There's a lady one with all the clothes torn up, A child sized one wearing a dress and a full grown man one with the head the smashed open.<br>"What the he-"  
>"Hello there Mr. Rhodes."<br>It's the same voice from before, but where's it coming from? Me and Kai jump out of the bathroom to look for someone... No one's here, so there has to be some kind of a Radio in here.  
>"I congratulate you on your victory and from what it looked like on my end it was definitely a challenging one to obtain."<br>"Chase he's watching us."  
>"Yes I am, I hope you 2 weren't disappointed to find that there was no kidnapping but it's so hard to arrange these kinds of things, especially considering all our busy schedules but I think we did a good job putting this whole thing together; especially with controlling Mr. Herman and putting the voice on when you guys tried to get an audio from the Duel Disk. Although it will be sad for the Keens to come home from there weekend apple picking trip to find their house vandalized, but we luckily now have all the data on you we need. You'll hear from us in a few weeks and from all of us here at Segas, have a nice day."<br>Next Time: Father Guido Sarducci  
>"Ok that's it! Tell us who you really are!"<br>"Miss, I'm afraid you must be confused-"  
>"Cut the crap and tell us what you want!"<br>"I told you who I Am."  
>"Fine then, if you won't tell us then I'll duel it out of you!"<br>"…If you insist."


	22. 22 Father Guido Sarducci

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

Chapter 22-Father Guido Sarducci

By Kevin Jones

It is a cool October morning. A rain storm from the previous night has left the entire running track around the school wet. Thanks to everything being wet and the warm rays of the sun hitting the entire area, consisting of the track, football field and bleachers, the area seem brighter. This is in sharp contrast to Vanessa and her black sweat pants and Pink hooded sweat shirt, her long red hair currently in a bun.  
>"Damn it," is what she is saying in her mind, "why won't Chase ever tell me anything? My neighbors get kidnapped and him and Kai go running off into danger only for them to come back completely shocked and just tell Toni and I to be quiet. God I swear, sometimes, those 2 just make me- what the, Whys Kai walking out of the school with a box?"<br>"Morning," Kai yells as he notices Vanessa on the track,  
>Vanessa stops running and heads over to the bleachers by Kai.<br>"What are you doing here? I thought classes here don't start till 7:30."  
>"They don't, she pauses to catch her breath, "I always jog in the morning before classes."<br>"Do you do a sport or something?"  
>"No, I always have a lot of energy so if I don't do something in the morning to wear me out a bit; I'll spend the whole day jittery."<br>Vanessa takes a deep breath, lifts her arms up and undoes the bun in her hair causing a large plume fiery hair to fall down onto her back.  
>"I'm awake," says Kai.<br>"Wait what?"  
>"Never mind."<br>"So what are you doing here anyways?"  
>"Well, it's a little hard to explain."<br>"I got time."  
>"Well, I don't want you to panic, but… Chase was in an accident last night."<br>"Chase was in an accident!"  
>"Easy there, we don't want all of Manhattan to know."<br>Kai appears to be remaining calm, which is in sharp contrast to Vanessa who is now wide eyed, and panicky.  
>"Well, what happened?"<br>"First of all, you're going to need to calm down because Chase is fine. We were practicing with our Runners last night when the storm started. Chase lost control of his Runner and was thrown off."  
>"Well is he alright? Is he in the hospital?"<br>"Actually I brought him back to my apartment. He's fine, but he's a little banged up so I figured it would be best if he just spent the rest of the day resting at my place."  
>"Then why'd you come here for?"<br>"Well naturally we can't leave Steve alone so I'm sneaking him out of here."  
>Vanessa looks into the box to see the small black Porcupine sleeping in a ball.<br>"Strangely enough, the more I see him, the less weirder it gets that Chase actually keeps him... what's with the brown paper bag?"  
>"Well", Kai's tone has now turned from calm to hesitant, "for one reason or another I can't get Chase to take any medicine to take the edge off, so before I got here I stopped at, well..."<br>Vanessa carefully pulls the brown paper bag out and looks inside.  
>"You bought him a bottle of Tequila!"<br>"Well what else am I suppose to do, and please stop yelling!"  
>"Your plan is to get him plastered!"<br>"It's either that or listen to him bitch about his pane."  
>"Your both, under aged."<br>"Oh come on, it's a safe bet Chase was also under aged to save the world."  
>"You bought this illegally!"<br>"It's not illegal if my fake I.D. is crap and the guy at the 24 hour liquor store believed it anyways."  
>"Then what do you call it!"<br>"Doesn't matter, I got the Tequila."  
>"I should go with you."<br>"That's probably not a good idea."  
>"Why is that?"<br>"First of all, you smell like sweat."  
>"I was running."<br>"Hens the smell, I can't even imagine how your classmates put up with it."  
>"Obviously I shower first."<br>"Well as much as I'd like for you to use my shower there is another reason."  
>"What's that?"<br>"Don't take this the wrong but you'll probably make his pane worse."  
>"Oh come on, what could I possibly do to make him feel worse?"<br>"He doesn't like you."  
>"What?"<br>"Oh don't worry, this is just something you 2 will have to get used to when you get married."  
>"Kai!"<br>"What, you 2 bicker like your pretty much husband and wife already."  
>"That's not funny."<br>"On the contrary, I think it's very funny. Well I better get going."  
>"You're sure you don't want me to come?"<br>"Its best for everyone, don't worry one day I'm sure you'll make him scream in a good way."  
>"What does that mean?"<br>"Never mind, later Nes."

Vanessa looks over at the empty seat next to her. She is entering 4Th period the same way she entered the shower, breakfast, and her last 3 periods, annoyed at Kai and Chase.  
>"Damn it Chase, how do you end up giving me a headache, even when you're not here."<br>She is whispering this only to herself, ignoring the fact that there teacher is not in the room.  
>"And where does Kai get off saying I will have to worry about Chase's attitude "when we get married"." She says this in a mocking tone.<br>"Who could even fathom the idea that I would ever be interested in some self centered, uncaring, duel obsessed jerk. I mean for crying out loud-"  
>"Jew Girl, where's Chase?"<br>"What the-," Vanessa slowly turns her head because unfortunately she knows who the voice belongs to.  
>"What are you doing here Millay?"<br>"Chase wasn't in our last class. The last time he missed a class he came back with a Criminal Mark so way I figure it, it's probably best to stay on top of him as best as possible."  
>"What I do I look like, his Girl Friend and better yet how do you know we have this class together?"<br>"No, and none of your business."  
>"Then what do you think I am his Keeper?"<br>"Well you do spend a considerable amount of time with him, plus I don't know where to find the other 2 that make up your little group so that just leaves me with you."  
>"Well I don't know where he is and frankly, if you want to keep tabs on him then why don't you be his girlfriend."<br>"Listen skank, you better not be trying to be smart with me, because if you are, I will-"  
>"Excuse me Ms. Dewint, but if I'm correct you don't have me till next period."<br>Millay creeps around to find Moretti standing behind her.  
>"Is something the matter?"<br>He has one eye brow raised and Vanessa can till Millay has no power over the old teacher.  
>"I just came here to get... yesterday's English assignment from my BFF Vanessa.<br>Millay puts on a large white smile and raps her right arm around Vanessa's neck."  
>"Ms. Aaronson is this true?"<br>"Come on, just tell him what she said," Vanessa says to herself.  
>Millay tightens her grip around Vanessa's neck.<br>"She's telling the truth sir."  
>"Very well then, now, Ms. Dewint, I have a class to teach."<br>With that, Millay scurries off, stops as she exits the room, turns her whole body to her right and makes a perplexing look.  
>Vanessa raises an eyebrow for whatever Millay is looking at is behind the wall next to the doorway. Millay then nervously backs away and then runs off.<br>"Now that I'm settled, for class today we have a guest speaker. He's here visiting New York City from the Vatican for an article he's writing for the official Vatican Newspaper, Father Guido Sarducci."  
>With that a tall old man slowly enters the room.<br>Vanessa instantly feels as if she's seen this man somewhere before. Even though she has no recollection of knowing a man who wears a big black Homburg hat, tinted square eye glasses, grey hair that goes half way down his neck as well as grey a mustache.

As he gets to the front of the room Vanessa can also see he's wearing his formal priest uniform under a white tiger patterned suit with a black robe over it.  
>"Good a morning students. It's a good to know my old a friend Robby has such interesting looking classes. I mean seriously, if this was my class on being a Priest back in the Vatican, there would only be boys because they don't allow girls to become Priests."<br>His voice doesn't necessarily sound Italian is what Vanessa's thinking, she also feels as if there's something "artificial" with the way this man looks.  
>As Vanessa looks around the class room, she See's a collection of uncaring faces, which tells her that most of the students are just happy that they don't have to remember anything for a test.<br>"Alright then," she says to herself but her thoughts are interrupted when she smells a warm tar like smell coming from in front of her.  
>"So... it is a very important... to have a religion."<br>Vanessa pinches her nose, as she watches the old man take a drag on a long white cigarette.  
>"Without a religion then what are you going to believe... you just have to make sure that the religion you pick is Catholicism, because Catholicism is the right one. Why do I know this? Because I feel in me that we Catholics, we got it right and when dealing with God, you got a feel it's true never mind, what actually makes a sense."<br>Vanessa considers the man's words to be odd to say the least however she is more concerned with keeping the smoke away from her face. Both her mother and Step Father smoke, even though both Vanessa and her Grandfather protest it.  
>"Plus, it helps that we are the most...popular religion in the world, so you know that if you chose to be a catholic, then you're with the majority of people. Now I'm not saying that you have to be a Catholic, but being a Catholic is pretty nice. Now I don't want to take up anymore of your class time, so if you'd like to learn about what's so nice about being a Catholic I'll being speaking in front of your, how do you say... tennis court during, your lunch break, today. So please, I welcome you all to learn more about what the majority says is the truth about God."<br>With that, the old man begins to walk out of the room and closes the door behind him.  
>"Now then, did we all enjoy our guest speaker...? OK then; now, since it's too late to start the test, we will use the rest of the class for review. Now then...<br>"That weird," Vanessa thinks, "something didn't seem right about that guy. Maybe he's- no, I refuse to be like Chase. Just because I'm board doesn't mean every odd thing that happens is part of a conspiracy. Either way, Kai said it be best if I don't bother Chase. So that's that, I'm Jewish so this guy's irrelevant to me anyways which means that I have no reason to bother Chase."

…

"Can I speak to Chase?"  
>"You do remember what I said this morning, right?"<br>"I know, it's just that, there's something really weird going on here."  
>"Define weird."<br>"Well there's a Catholic Priest visiting our school."  
>"I'm Latino, do you really think that you can't make a Catholic Priest seem weird to me."<p>

"This isn't funny, I really think that there's something wrong with this guy."

"Wow, you really sound worried… OK but I warn you, I couldn't get Chase to drink the Tequila."

Vanessa looks over by the Tennis courts. The Priest has a relatively good sized group, consisting of about 20 people.

"What do you want?"  
>Vanessa jumps as she hears the grumpy, aggravated and worn out voice of her bed ridden classmate.<p>

"Hm, well… how are you feeling?"

"What do you think?"

"That bad?"

"And getting worse, now what is it?"

"Did Professor Moretti mention anything about a guest speaker coming in today?"

"No."  
>"Would he tell us if he did?"<p>

"Probably not, is there a point to all this?"  
>"Well, today a Catholic Priest from the Vatican came to speak to the class."<br>"Did he look down your shirt or blame all the wars on the Jews?"  
>"What, no! Listen there's something not right about this guy."<p>

"I don't think there's something right with anybody who thinks that there a hot line to some supreme being."  
>"That's not what I mean!"<p>

"Then what do you mean?"  
>"What if he's from Segas?"<br>"…If that's the case," his voice is now calm, alert and has a hint of worry in it, "stay away from him. If he's looking for me then he'll probably still be at the school when I come back tonight, understand."

"Understood, but-… hello, hello? He hung up! Why as soon as he- no, no, it's my fault for thinking he would wait for me to stop talking like a normal person would."  
>Vanessa closes her phone and sticks it into her jacket pocket. The cold fall weather has left Vanessa in her white Denim jacket. As she puts her hands in her pockets, she leans her back against the red brick wall of the school. She shifts the gaze of her light green eyes back towards the tennis court only to see that everyone is leaving and the so called "Priest" is nowhere in sight.<p>

Vanessa closes her eyes and leans her head against the cold stone wall.

"Oh man," she says to no one in particular, "I'm just supposed to be a normal teenage girl and all this should just be something in a book. Its times like this that"-

She is interrupted by the sound of the school bell, indicating that lunch is now over.

"I should have eaten instead of watching this guy all lunch break long."  
>She moves her body off the rock and turns around, preparing to walk to class.<p>

"Is something the matter, my dear?"

Vanessa almost jumps out of her skin as she realizes the Priest is right in front of her.

"What are you doing here?"  
>"I was on my way to my next a lecture, when I saw you standing here… all a by yourself. You were in Moretti's fourth period class right?"<p>

"Yes, what do you want?"  
>"I saw you standing here alone and with what looks like a lot on your mind."<br>"I was just standing here, enjoying a little peace and quiet."

She can tell that she is not doing a good job of hiding the fear in her voice.

"You do not have to lie; as a man of God, I can always tell when I see a face that is truly in need of guidance."  
>He is now moving closer to Vanessa who is in response moving farther away.<p>

"I don't need any guidance. I'm perfectly happy and healthy."  
>"That's not what Moretti told me."<br>Vanessa's heart stops for a moment, only for it to once again start racing.

"You asked my teacher about me?"  
>"Yes, he said you mainly only seam to really talk to one other student in the class. A boy named Chase Rhodes."<br>"I don't see how that is any of your business."  
>Vanessa's back is now again against the wall.<p>

"Well it just seems odd that a beautiful girl like you would only seem to have one friend here."

"I'm, I'm, I'm not that pretty."

Vanessa is now shaking as the man is now close enough that she can smell the scent of tobacco on him, she is hoping that he cannot in turn see the sweat now forming under her bangs.

"Oh, on the contrary, I think you're very pretty."  
>He is now lifting his right hand very slowly. Vanessa, too frightened to move, watches as it appears to come closer and closer, and closer and closer and close- the man is startled as he suddenly he hears another school bell.<p>

"Damn, that must be the late bell. I'd recommend you come to my next lecture in the auditorium after school today. You'll find it is in your best interest to come."  
>The man jolts into the building. As soon as he's out of sight Vanessa slides down the wall and barrios her face into her legs.<p>

"Damn it!" She yells.

"Why Chase, why is it the one time you actually hurt yourself on that stupid death trap is the one day I need you here!"  
>She feels as if she's about to cry but suddenly she can feel something inside her. She doesn't feel like crying anymore. Instead she gets up and pulls out her cell phone.<p>

"If Chase can't be here to stop this guy, then I will."

… 

"Now remember kids, all people need to believe in something and since Catholicism is the most popular Religion in the world, you know you'll be in good company. So this Sunday, instead of just sitting on the couch at home, visit your local Catholic church and save your soul from damnation."

The audience of about 24 people clapped as the Priest took his final bow. He then proceeded to walk off stage and into a room behind the stage.

As he enters the room, he is stopped by a familiar sight sitting cross legged on a brown fold out chair.

"Oh my, Ms. Aaronson, I did not expect this."  
>"Did you expect this?"<br>The Priest is now startled as he hears another girls voice coming from behind him. He jumps around to see a short black haired girl standing in the door way.

"Who, exactly, are you."  
>"The names Toni, and according to my friend over here, you were getting a little too close for comfort."<br>"Girls, girls, girls, I believe there's been a misunderstanding."  
>"How exactly is there a misunderstanding in you trying to feel me up?"<p>

"What exactly are you talking about?"  
>"Don't play dumb, you tried to get some out of my friend. Last time checked, Catholic Priests only did that with little boys, not young ladies."<br>"Ms… Toni," he is now facing Toni and is moving his hand towards Toni's shoulder, "do I really look like the kind of man who would"-

Toni quickly grabs the man's creeping arm and flips the man on to the floor hard on his back.

"Admit it, you're with Segas!" Shouts out Toni.

"What exactly is this Segas?"

"Ok that's it! Tell us who you really are!"  
>"Miss, I'm afraid you must be confused-"<br>"Cut the crap and tell us what you want!"  
>"I told you who I Am."<br>"Fine then, if you won't tell us then I'll duel it out of you!"  
>"…If you insist."<p>

Toni

"Why exactly is it you want to duel?"

"Don't play dumb, I know the way you Segas guys work."  
>The Priest is now scratching his face with a perplexing look.<p>

"And how is that exactly?"  
>"You want us to duel and when we win, your super powered Duel Disk, will stop working, and with your weapon gone, you'll be at our mercy!"<br>"Fine, you may have the first move."  
>"Gladly, I summon, Blackwing-Shura the Blue Flame (ATK: 1800DEF: 1200)! Next I set 1 card face down and end my turn."  
>Sarducci<p>

"I summon, Luster Dragon (ATK: 1900/DEF: 1600), now Luster Dragon, attack her Shura!"  
>The large blue Dragon fires a blast of blue flames, incinerating the tall blue bird. (4000-3900)<p>

"I set 1 card face down and end my turn."

Toni

"My draw… revenge time. Now because you control a monster and I don't, I can normal summon, Blackwing-Sirocco the Dawn (ATK: 2000/DEF: 900) straight from my hand."  
>A large, Black-winged bird man now stands in front of a field that will soon consist of only 1 monster.<p>

"I'm in trouble, aren't I?"  
>"You bet, now Sirocco, attack, dark wing slash!"<p>

The bird man's long black claws suddenly became as long as swords as they slid the long neck of the sapphire Dragon. (4000-3900)

"That's it for me; now make your move old man."

Sarducci

"Be careful what you wish for. I summon Twin-Headed Behemoth (ATK: 1500/DEF: 1200) in defense mode. Next I set 1 card and end my turn.

Toni

"You can do it Toni; you've already got him on the ropes!"

"Damn straight, I summon Blackwing-Bora the Spear. (ATK: 1700/DEF: 800) Now Bora, take out his Behemoth, Cyclone spear!"  
>The orange headed bird threw its long drill like spear right threw the dragon armed monster. (3900-3400)<p>

"Why did I take a damage?"  
>"When Bora successfully destroys a monster, you take piercing damage. Now Sirocco, keep the damage going! (3400-1400) Now let's see what your final moves going to be!"<p>

"Fine, but first, now that it's your end phase, I get my Twin-Headed Behemoth back but with only 1000 ATK and DEF points."

Sarducci

"Oh God, give me the card I need… thank you God. "I activate my face down card, Call of the Haunted! Now I can special Luster Dragon back from the graveyard, but he won't be here for long; now I tribute Luster Dragon and Twin-Headed Behemoth in order to summon, the deadly Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" (ATK: 2400/DEF: 2000)

The large Black Dragon takes up most of the room and the red light that is now coming out of its mouth is also covering the whole room.

"Now Red-Eyes, Inferno Fire Blast on Bora The Spear!"

"Oh no you don't, I activate my trap card, Dimensional Prison, now your overgrown salamander gets removed from play!"

"Not quite, I also activate a trap but thanks to my Trap Jammer I can discard a card to negate the activation of your trap and destroy it."  
>A large red ball has now been fired and it has now cooked the orange and yellow bird. (3900-3200)<p>

"I've taken plenty of Red Eyes down before!"  
>"True, but not one quite like mine; I set 2 card face-down and end my turn."<p>

Toni

"My draw, actually, I think I'm going to take this Red Eyes down like I would any other. I summon Blackwing-Gale the Whirlwind (Level: 3/ATK: 1300/DEF: 400) in attack mode. Now Gale may not look like much but once per turn, I can select 1 face up monster you control and halve its ATK and DEF points!"

With no sign of fear, the small purple bird flies up to the big black dragon and with a flap of its wings weakens the dragon to a level even it could fight at. (ATK: 2400-1200/DEF: 2000-1000)

"Now, Gale, attack his Dragon!"  
>"Sorry but no dice, I activate my trap card, Curse of Anubis!"<p>

"Toni what's it do?"  
>"I have no idea."<br>"Well then, let me explain. Now, all face-up EffectMonsters on the field are changed to Defense Position, plus you can't change their battle positions for the remainder of the turn."

"Fine then, I set 1 card face down and end my turn."

Sarducci

"My draw, and now my dear; it's time to end this duel. I tribute Red-Eyes Black Dragon in order to special summon Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon!" (ATK: 2400/DEF: 2000)

The black Dragon now has streaks of orange running along its body as well as several large orange crystals on its head, legs, chest and wings.

"Well as fearsome as this thing looks, you still ain't beating me this turn."

"Apparently you forgot about my other face down. I activate, Dragon's Rage!"

"Fine, I admit, the idea that all your Dragons can now inflict Piercing damage is still scary, but no matter who you attack, I'll still have plenty of life points."  
>"Normally you'd be right, but, while I control my Darkness Dragon, he gains 300 ATK for every Dragon in my graveyard." (2400-3600)<p>

"Don't you only have 3?"

"I've summoned 3, plus the second Red-Eyes Black Dragon that I sent to the Graveyard for my Trap Jammer."

"Oh crap, that makes it one strong lizard."  
>"Indeed, now Red-Eyes end this! Destroy her Gale and end this duel, Inferno Darkfire!"<p>

"This may not be over just yet! I play Chaos Form!"

"Toni, why is your Graveyard slot beeping?"  
>"Because Nes thanks to Chaos Form, my graveyard now shuffles itself, when it's done it will reveal to me 1 of my monsters, after that Gale's ATK and DEF will become equal to the selected monster. All right, it's done… well what do you know, it's Blackwing-Bora the Spear, now Gale gains Bora's ATK and DEF." (ATK: 1300-1700DEF: 400-800) (3200-400)

"Your monster has still been destroyed."

"At least I'm still in this."  
>"Let's see how long that lasts, I end my turn."<p>

Toni

"Come on deck; give me the 1 card I need… yes! Now it's my turn to bring out the big guns. I summon Blackwing-Mistral the Silver Shield, (Level: 2/ATK: 100/DEF: 1800) now I know my armored bird doesn't look like much but watch what happens when he gives my Sirocco a little tune up!"  
>Mistral flew up into the air face first, once it went as high as it could go its silver shield began to shine like a bright star, when the light became too bright the bird turned into 2 large green rings and as Sirocco flew through them he suddenly dematerialized into 5 shining stars and with the wind circling around it, (2+5=7) "I synchro summon, Blackwing Armor Master!" (ATK: 2500DEF: 1500)

This new bird is a tall man like creature covered with black armor except for its exposed muscular abdomen.

"That monster isn't strong enough to defeat my Dragon."

"Oh just wait, because Armor Master can't be destroyed by battle and I don't take damage during battles he's involved in!"  
>As Armor Master attacks, the Dragon fires a large crimson fire blast from its mouth. Armor Master dodges this blast and punches the creature hard on the gem on its forehead, leaving a sharp black object jabbed in the now cracked gem.<p>

"What was that suppose to do?"  
>"You'll see but for now I'm just going to end my turn."<p>

Sarducci

"My draw… seeing as I can't destroy your monster I'll just end my turn with 1 face down card."

Toni

"My turn and its game over!"

"Why is that?"  
>"Because now that it's my turn I can activate Blackwing Armor Master's special ability! Now I can remove the Wedge Counter on your Red-Eyes in order to make your monsters ATK and DEF 0 until the end phase!" (ATK: 3600-0DEF: 2000-0)

Now that the Wedge Counter has vanished, the Dragon now looks sickly, the glowing energy being emitted from its orange gems have now become dim, its wings and tail our now all that is stopping it from falling to the floor.

"Now Blackwing Armor Master, Black Hurricane!"

Armor Master flew high in the sky, tightened its fist, and slammed down hard on the dragon, snapping its neck once and for all.

"Trap card, Mirror score! Now you take the same amount of damage as I do!" (1400-0) (400-0)

Draw

"Awesome duel guys."

Toni and Vanessa quickly turn their heads towards a now open door.

"What the hell!"  
>Toni says this in response to seeing Kai in the door way.<p>

"Kai, what, what are you doing here?"

"Well Vanessa… I guess the easiest way to explain is for Chase to tell the story."  
>"Wait did you just say? ..."<br>With confused looks on their faces, Toni and Vanessa turn around and see the priest laughing.

"I guess the games over."  
>Both girls are now wide eyed as they realize that they just heard Chase's voice out of the Priests mouth.<p>

He is now laughing as he removes his hat. Upon removing his hat everyone now sees's jet black hair that is now falling over the man's face. He then puts his hands on the back of his head and is now ripping his face off.

"What the hell is going on around here!"  
>"Chill Toni, at least let me get this mask off."<p>

The face of the old mustached man has been replaced with the young face of a boy with a criminal mark on his right cheek.

"So what do you think, did I play a good enough Priest?"

"Oh definitely," starts Kai, "I can't wait to tell Randal how convincing his makeup looks."  
>"Make up?"<p>

"Well Vanessa, I guess I should explain. You see my new roommate is learning how to become a makeup artist for movies."  
>"And the other night while I was over there, Randal asked if he could try out his skills on my face and that's where we came up with this prank."<br>"Prank, apparently you spent the whole day confusing people about Catholicism!"

"I'm an Atheist, the idea of making a mockery of Catholicism brings me as much as joy as humanly possible."

"But your voice- and better yet I called you while watching your lunch time performance!"  
>"You mean my lunch time performance," says Kai.<br>"But, but, but,"-

"My voice a sound like a this, thanks to this device."  
>Chase is now speaking like the priest while pointing at the Gold Medallion around his neck.<p>

"For the lunch time performance we decided it be best if Chase sat out for a little while, and with the Medallion voice changer plus a second mask that was designed just for my face we were able to have Chase distract you if you called."  
>"But I talked to you first?"<p>

"You do remember what I said this morning, right?"

Everyone looks back at Chase who is now holding a tape recorder.

"O.k. fair enough, but how did you trick the Head Master into letting you do all this?"

"I didn't, Moretti loves a good joke so when I told him about this, he was more than happy to push the test back to tomorrow."

"Then what's with the Dragon deck?"  
>"Every now and again I'll build a replica deck based on popular decks, so I can learn how they work, for example the most common flaw in a dragon deck is being able to summon strong ones in time."<br>"So you did all this to make fun of Catholics?"

"That's one of the reasons."

"What's the other?"  
>"You've spent the past few days walking around like someone's got a gun to your head."<br>"I'm worried."  
>"Worried, what about, Segas?"<br>"You 2 won't tell me and Toni what's going on."

"Yeah because there's nothing we can do about what's going on. Your neighbors returned home safely right?"  
>Vanessa nods.<p>

"For now all any of us can do is move forward. For now, whatever happens happens and letting it get to you will only make things worse when something does happen."

"So wait… you did all this, to help me?"  
>"God no, you've been irritating me so much with all this, that the idea of getting to mess with you like this was a chance I wasn't going to let go."<br>Vanessa and Toni's faces are now turning bright red, there clenching their fists and making angry noises.

"Chase," starts a now worried sounding Kai, "we should probably get out of here."

In an instant, Chase and Kai dash out of the room and then out of the auditorium with Vanessa and Toni close behind.

"Chase," yells Vanessa, "when I get my hands on you, you're going to need a Priest!"

…

"What a day, how is it that nobody was able to recognize the name of SNL character Guido Sarducci and why does Vanessa have to such a bad temper and strong arms."

"Serves you right," says Debris Dragon.

"It was a damn joke and either way, why on earth did she say that I tried to grab her chest during lunch?"  
>"She seemed to believe it."<br>"Well, Kai was giving a speech and we were just getting back from the diner across the street when she claimed it happened."  
>"Well she seemed truthful."<br>"I know but"-  
>"Rhodes, over here."<br>I look to my right. I'm right now in the entrance to the dormitory. Here there is an old front desk where an even older man named Bob tells us if we've got mail.

"I have mail?"  
>"Yup, it was in your box when I came in this morning."<p>

The letter has no markings on it; I have a bad feeling where it's from.

"How were you sure it was in the right box?"

"Wouldn't be the first time unmarked stuff gets delivered to you."

"Has Chase been a bad boy?"  
>"Fair enough, but I don't remember ordering this."<p>

I bend down, unhook the cover over my shoes compartment and pull out my pocket knife.

"I'm just going to pretend I'm not seeing that."  
>I put the blade of the knife into the crease on the white envelope and carefully slice the letter open. I then, put only the corners of my right thumb and index finger on the paper inside. I then slowly pull out a white folded piece of paper. If need be I don't want to get too many of my finger prints on the letter. I lay the envelope on the table and place the corner of my left thumb and index finger on the corner of the sheet. The bottom of the sheet is now falling open and it looks like the letter is from… oh no.<p>

"Well who's it from?"  
>"Just a bill for the last piece I ordered for my Runner. Thanks for the letter Bob."<br>"Night Chase."

I quickly sprint out of the entrance and into the empty hall way.

"OK Chase what does it really say," asks Debris Dragon.

The letter reads.

_Dear Mr. Rhodes_

_The time has now come for you to truly test your skills. This is your official invitation into the King's Championship. He or she who wins this tournament will be given power beyond which any one person could ever imagine. Further details will be given on October 27, 2040 at 10: 30 A.M. in the office of Judge Franklin Taft. We hope you will participate for you will gain the challenge you crave and in exchange, if you can rise to the challenge, you will receive the power of a King. From all of us here at Segas, have a pleasant day._

Next Time: The King's Championship

"Now then, so you all don't think that this is merely a joke, for all your viewing pleasure, a duel featuring the Grand Master of Segas."


	23. 23 The King's Championship

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

Chapter 23-The King's Championship

By Kevin Jones

"Is everything in place?"  
>The owner of the mysterious voice is unknown. All that the man listening can tell is that the voice has a sense of amuse to its tone.<br>"Yes sir, all the invitations went out yesterday and all of the subjects you chose should be here within the next hour."  
>The owner of this voice is sitting in his black leather chair with his blue eyes closed; he knows the punishment he would receive if he were to lay eyes on the owner of this voice.<br>"You have proven yourself to be a good servant…, hmm, judge."  
>Even though his eyes are closed, the man in the leather chair can tell that the man in his office is standing near the window, via the direction of the noise of light footsteps. He can tell other things of his visitor even with his eyes closed. He can tell he's short and skinny based on how light his footsteps are. He also knows that his visitor has big feet based on previous visits when it would be raining outside and all that would remain of his visitor would be a set of wet prints on the wooden floor. Even though his visitor uses some sort of device that disguises his voice, causing it to sound mechanical, he can tell his visitor is a happy man seeing as he commonly laughs on his visits.<br>"Thank you sir," he is happy to receive praise from such an important man.  
>"All I wish now is to choose a worthy successor."<br>"I assure you, all of the participants have proven themselves worthy of the honor you are passing on."  
>"And even if they refuse it, we will make them want the honor."<br>The man in the chair can now hear a drawer opening and glass being removed from it.  
>"Oh my, a 65 Ayala, I don't want to sound rude but do you mind if I have a glass?"<br>"At 9:30 in the morning? I have no problem with it, but this early, it's not good for your liver."  
>"Nonsense, I think it adds a little sparkle to the day, would you like a glass?"<br>"I'd be honored sir."  
>The man in the chair now hears more glass being moved, a pop, and then liquid pouring.<br>"To the future, my friend," says the visitor.  
>The man in the chair reaches out gently, grabs the glass and waits till he here's a clang.<br>"To the future."  
>The man drinks and stops when he hears something placed on the leather blotter on his mahogany desk.<br>"When I entered the last King's Tournament more than 70 years ago I was skeptical of what the Grand Master had the power to do, so if you see any nonbelievers in the group, play them this and I assure you they'll want my power."  
>"Yes sir."<br>The man in the chair can now hear the light footsteps head towards the door. The door is now slowly opening.  
>"Good day, my servant."<br>"Good day, my master."  
>The door is now closing. The man in the chair leans back, counts to ten, opens his eyes and gets up. He slowly walks to his door, opens it and looks towards his secretary.<br>"Something the matter sir?"  
>"No, I just wanted to make sure you remember what to do when a bunch of young people show up in a little while."<br>"Let them in with no questions asked sir."  
>"And what are you to do with the knowledge that an old man was just in my office?"<br>"Completely forget it."  
>"Good," the man is now lifting his hand, "very good indeed." The man snaps his fingers and all of a sudden his secretary jumps in her seat.<br>"Oh judge Taft, is something the matter?"  
>"No sweet heart, nothing at all."<p>

…

The United States court House is a grey, boring, roman based building with a ridiculously long stare case just to get to the front door.  
>"Chase," starts Debris Dragon, "are we walking into a trap?"<br>I look around, I'm the only one around wearing a Duel Disk and my Duel Runner is the only one I see parked anywhere near here.  
>"It's possible but"-<br>"Hey Chase, you didn't think you were going in alone were you?"  
>That voice, it sounded like Toni… it is Toni, Kai to and there now sprinting up the steps.<br>"What are you guys doing here?"  
>"Same as you I'd imagine." As Kai says this, both he and Toni pull unmarked envelopes out of their pockets.<br>"Wait, Segas gave all of us invitations to this tournament?"  
>"Looks like it. I found mine on my window sill when I got home yesterday, and I figured that if I got one, then you and Kai probably got one to."<br>"Then why didn't you call me or Kai?"  
>"Because, if we're supposed to be in a huge tournament then we'd all need our sleep, instead of spending the whole night trying to figure out what's going on here."<br>"Actually, unlike Toni, I didn't find my invitation till I got up this morning and found it tapped to my front door."  
>"OK so they want all 3 of us in this, but why?"<br>"Well boys, looks like we just got to go in and find out."

…

There is nothing odd about the inside of the Court House. I'm here a lot so I'd know if something was wrong.  
>"OK, according to what the lady back at the front desk said, Judge Taft's office should be right around the next- oh boy," apparently there's more than just the 3 of us in this tournament.<br>Toni's right, there's about…12 other people here. The age range looks like from a 10-year old to a 40-year old. Everyone is stuffed in here and it looks like the Judges secretary doesn't even seem to notice we're here.  
>"Check out the guy's secretary, I wouldn't mind unbuttoning that blouse."<br>Kai says this as we move towards the Blond with the C's.  
>"Excuse me," I begin, "we're here to see Judge Taft. Ms… can you hear me?"<br>"Don't bother."  
>We all look to our right, wait there's no one there.<br>"Down here."  
>We all look down to see the 10-year old standing next to us. He's short with long brown hair that's being kept in a pony tail that lays against a button down flannel shirt and ends where a pair of blue jeans begins.<br>"Who are you?" Upon asking this, I also notice an older model Duel Disk on the boys arm so I at least know what he's here for.  
>"I'm Wilson, Wilson Leonson."<br>"Let me guess you're here for the King's Championship," I ask.  
>"Yup, I got my invitation last night."<br>Happy little bra- Toni just nudged me.  
>"Something's up," she whispers into my ear, "I mean me and Kai being in this is odd enough, but a small child?"<br>"So what are your names?"  
>"Well, I'm Kai, this is Toni and this is Chase."<br>"Wait a minute, your Chase Rhodes?"  
>He is now right in front of me and some of the other guys here are also starting to look over.<br>"You know who I am?"  
>"You bet. There have been a lot of rumors spreading about you. Like how you have a Stardust Dragon or that you have a Hero deck that almost never loses!"<br>"And where exactly did these rumors begin?"  
>As I say this I glance at Toni.<br>"Hey, don't look at me, I only spread rumors about my own dueling skills."  
>I now look at Kai.<br>"I keep to myself and do I really look like the kind of guy who's hanging around Elementary schools trying to attract little kids attention so I can tell them stories."  
>"OK, then where did these stories come from?"<br>"I think," The boy begins, "the stories were started by some guy named Segas."  
>"Segas, you mean the people who are hosting this tournament?"<br>"You bet, I feel honored to be in a tournament hosted by Segas."  
>"Wait a minute," starts Toni, "do you mean the same Segas that probably tested you before sending you the invitation?"<br>"...I don't know about that-"  
>"He means the rich fraternal group, Segas."<br>Instantly we all turn our heads to see a skinny white haired man with tanned skin and a pair of large round steel rimmed glasses covering a pair of ice blue, sinister, eyes."  
>"What do you mean by fraternal group?"<br>As Kai completes this sentence, a long devilish smirk develops on the man face.  
>"Wait, so the 4 of you have come to here for this tournament without knowing anything about Segas?"<br>"I know there a bunch of grade nut cases," I say.  
>"As true as that might be, Segas is still a powerful organization."<br>"Enlighten us," remarks Toni.  
>"It'd be nice if I could. By the way, my name is Ralph Ortega, I'm a Free lance Journalist."<br>He extends his hand to shake mine, I don't extend mine.  
>"So how exactly did these people find out about you?"<br>"Same way they found out about everyone here. They have people everywhere. After all, they've been around for centuries."  
>"Centuries," remarks the kid.<br>"But of course, they've had a hand, usually in financing, some of the biggest project in New York City. They've helped with buildings like the Empire State Building, Central Park, and The World Trade Center, both, building, clean up and rebuilding. I'd imagine when the city was rebuilt after World War 3 these guys had a huge hand in putting together both the Satellite and New Manhattan."  
>I don't like this guy. First of all, he talks too much and second, he seems to be way too obsessed with these people. It almost seems like he finds something Erotic about all this.<br>"So then what's with this whole tournament?"  
>Kai says. I'm starting to want this guy to just shut up.<br>"From what my research tells me, they hold this tournament, more or less, once every 70 years. What the purpose is I don't know."  
>"Isn't it obvious?"<br>A large, in all directions, Samoan guy is now standing in the middle of the sitting area. Why is it no one passing us finds this strange?  
>"And what's that?"<br>As Toni asks this, the man lumbers over till he's only an inch away from us.  
>"Money, a serious shit load of money."<br>"You think the power of The King is Money?"  
>Asks Ortega with an interested look on his face.<br>"What else, and even if it isn't do you know how much some people will pay for genuine information on Segas, a lot."  
>"And you know this how?"<br>Ortega says this as he begins to hover around the Samoan.  
>"Simple, I know a few crazy rich people who are in to all this conspiracy stuff. They want to get as close to these people as possible and they'll pay a lot of money to do it."<br>"Define a lot," says Ortega.  
>"There's a woman down in Philly, rich old bitch, who says she'll pay 500,000 dollars for genuine evidence of Segas."<br>Suddenly, everyone in the waiting room is now staring at the large man.  
>"Did you say 500,000 Dollars?"<br>The large man circles around to see a skinny blond skate boarder who looks no older then Kai.  
>"That's right, 500,000, and I'm going to be the one to collect it, so if I were all of you, I'd do as I'm told and stay out of the big guys way."<br>"Very inspiring."  
>What the hell, I didn't even hear the door open but it is. There's now a tall grey haired white guy with a thick mustache standing in the door way.<br>"I assume, starts Ortega, that you are Judge Franklin Taft?"  
>"You've assumed right, Mr. Ortega."<br>Right off the bat I can tell something isn't right with this guy. He's got the type of voice you'd expect to come out of the mouth of a Conman.  
>"What's with your Secretary?"<br>Wilson Asks while pointing at the women who has yet to even acknowledge that there's anyone else here.  
>"Oh don't worry about her. Now if you all follow me, I'll be giving you a little presentation in one of the conference rooms, and there will be refreshments.<p>

…

There is a lot going through Vanessa's mind. The first thing is that she overslept and she didn't get a chance to eat Breakfast, her bra is itching her back and as usual Chase is occupying most of her Brain power.  
>After strangling him the night before, Chase said that he never even attempted to touch her, the strangest part was, was that something in the back of her mind was telling her that he was telling the truth, which didn't make sense because she knew that someone in the Priest costume had taken a, unnatural, interest in her but somehow she knew that whoever, or whatever, it was, it wasn't Chase or Kai.<br>The current issue is that she is now being sent to the Head Master's office, something that in 10 years of schooling, had never happened before.  
>"OK," she thought, "I don't have anything I'd have a guilty conscious over... so maybe they just need me to confirm something they thought I saw, but what would I know about anything going on around here?... Unless it has something to do Chase, I haven't seen him yet today, granted I haven't had history yet today, but what could he have done? He said that Moretti-"<br>Vanessa's thoughts are interrupted as she stops in front of the large old Mahogany door that says "Head Master."  
>She takes a deep breath and knocks on the door.<br>"Who's there," says a deep muffled voice.  
>"It's Vanessa Aaronson, sir, my math teacher told me to come here."<br>"Oh yes, come in, come in."  
>Hesitantly, Vanessa turns the knob and opens the door to find someone who is not the Head Master.<br>"Well Ms. Aaronson long time, no see."  
>Sitting in her Principal's chair is the FBI Agent from The Arcadia Boarding School, Agent Roy Mustang. To her right, Vanessa can see his Partner, Agent Riza Hawkeye sitting in the chair across from the desk and the chair to her left, a man she doesn't know. This one is small and pale with short black hair and large round glasses, dressed in the same style Black suit as Mustang.<br>"Agent Mustang, what, what are you doing here?"  
>Now she is sure of it, this has something to do with Chase and that has her more nervous and confused than before.<br>"Well, among other things, we're here about Chase."  
>Vanessa suddenly tenses up, a sharp contrast to Mustang who seems to be calm, collected and is even leaning back in the large red office chair.<br>"Don't worry," says Hawkeye in a soothing motherly voice, "right now, he's in no immediate danger."  
>"How do you know that?"<br>"One of my men is with him."  
>"Where is he?"<br>"That's a little hard to explain."  
>"Try."<br>Mustang rolls his eyes, puts his hand on his forehead and takes a deep breath. "Very well then, seeing as you too are around each other a lot, I assume you know that an organization known as Segas has taken an interest in Chase."  
>She nods.<br>"As members of the FBI anti cult unit and the people who were responsible for cleaning up Chase's last mess, we were assigned the job of intercepting an event known as the King's Championship."  
>"The King's Championship?"<br>"Told you this is hard to explain, Hawkeye, mind taking over."  
>"Yes sir, the tall blond women begins to stand up, walks behind Mustang and pushes a button, turning on a large hologram screen with the word "classified" on it.<br>"We know very little about Segas. We do not know there goals and we know very little about their activities. What we do know is that many of their supposed members," there are now a large number of pictures of people appearing on the screen, "men such as Andrew Carnegie, J. Edger Hoover, Sir Mark Zuckerberg and many more. We also know that they've been involved in constructing some of the most influential buildings in the world."  
>"That's how we got involved, back in 2025 when World War 3 ended and the country decided to rebuild New York City with a Satellite Sector, a lot of people couldn't understand where all the money was coming from. Unfortunately every lead has lead to a dead end for the past 15 years."<br>"So there a bunch of ultra rich, influential people, how does that end up equaling the lunatics that have been toying with us?"  
>"That's where the King's Championship comes into this," begins Mustang. "It appears that once every 70 or so years, Segas holds this tournament, we have yet to understand why."<br>"So your theory is that they want my friends for this tournament?"  
>"It's not theory, its fact," Mustang says this more seriously.<br>"How do you know?"  
>"We have a man in the tournament."<br>"How on earth did you manage that?"  
>"One of our agents who has been working this case for quite some time, apparently something he did impressed these people."<br>"But how can you guarantee that he's safe?"  
>"He's wired, so is Chase, Kai, Toni and the entire The United States court House."<br>"How do you know that they're there and how did you get them bugged in the first place?"  
>"Kid, we're the FBI, it's what we do and if you don't believe me, we even have you bugged."<br>Mustang pushes a button on the desk and suddenly, "if you divide the product of the base and the height you can..."  
>"That's me!"<br>Mustang turns off the recording and leans back in the chair.  
>"I'll leave this to my main tech guy, Agent Fuery."<br>Mustang gestures to the man in the chair who responds by tensing up, followed by a slow rising out of his chair.  
>"Right then... Ms. Aaronson... using the latest advances in Micro technology we have successfully been able to place Micro cameras on Mr. Rhodes, Mr. Rodriguez, Ms. Sorrentino, yourself and throughout the United States court House."<br>He's says this nervously while looking like a deer caught in Head Lights.  
>"I just told her that," says Mustang with an irritated tone.<br>"Yes sir, sorry sir."  
>"You'll have to excuse Agent Fuery, he's never any good when he's around beautiful women."<br>"Roy!"  
>Vanessa turns red before saying, "so then how did you get one on me and better yet, where's there one on me?"<br>Vanessa is now frantically looking over her body for anything out of place.  
>"Come to think of it," starts Mustang, "where did you place the transmitter on these kids?"<br>"Well... you see, for Rhodes and Rodriguez I placed them on the top buttons of their jackets and for Ms. Sorrentino and, and Ms. Aaronson... you see, we used the only 2 cameras we had left... and well, sorry about this."  
>He pushes a button on a small remote and suddenly, the room is now filled with a large beeping noise coming from Vanessa's back.<br>"Fuery," Mustang's face now shows both anger and annoyance, Hawkeye has a look of pure embarrassment, Fuery has his head down in order to hide fear and Vanessa now realizes why her Bra's been bothering her, "why did you place the wire in the girls' underwear?"  
>"The only 2 we had left were Shoulder HolsterBra taps!"  
>"So you snuck into my home, went into my room and went rummaging through my underwear drawer!"<br>"But I, you see I, if I could of-"  
>"Mustang, Mustang."<br>A loud whisper is now coming from a laptop on the desk.  
>"Come in Havoc, what is your location?"<br>"We're entering a conference room where Judge Franklin Taft, I repeat, Judge Franklin Taft, will explain the tournament."  
>"Do you have Rhodes and the others in sight?"<br>"Yes sir."  
>"We're turning the camera on now; make sure you can keep a visual."<p>

…

We've now entered a large conference room. It has a large wooden table with walls containing different pictures of New York City Judges. If I were to take a guess this room is usually used for Jury delegations.  
>"Now, will you all please take a seat and you're all welcome to the Donuts."<br>"Excuse me," some blond guy looks like he's about to ask a question, "Mind if I smoke?"  
>"Does it bother anyone if he does?" No one responds. "Fine with me."<br>As we all sit down, the blond guy who is now sitting across from us pulls out a pack of Camel, pulls one out, lights it and has the lit end in our direction."

…

"Audio visual achieved."  
>The FBI agents and the girl are now looking at a holographic image showing Chase, Kai, Toni, and some kid sitting across from the agent.<br>"How's the camera holding up?"  
>"So far the heat from the cigarette has yet to be affecting the camera's performance."<p>

…

"Now that all 1, 2, 3... Wait a minute someone's missing."  
>The door has now flung open and a very familiar face has walked through the door.<br>"Sorry I'm late Judge Taft, my train left late."  
>"Chase," whispers Toni, "isn't that the Charles kid from a few weeks ago?"<br>Toni's right, it is Charles. After we Duel he left school, why, nobody knows. Apparently, wherever he went, he came back for this tournament.  
>"You're here now."<br>Charles takes a seat right next to the judge. I can also see that's he's now got an ear ring in his right ear.  
>"OK, now that all 16 of you are here, we can begin."<br>The man pushes a button on the desk causing the lights to turn down and a large blank screen is now visible next to the silhouette of the old judge.  
>"First off, as you all know, I am Judge Franklin Taft and I am representing Segas."<br>There is now a symbol on the screen. I'd imagine it's there logo but it's an odd looking one. It looks like a purple bird with its wings taking off.  
>"Segas is a fraternal organization dedicated to steering Humanity in the right direction."<br>"Define steering," I say.  
>"Gladly, you see, this is slow world. It takes human beings decades to make changes, so for the past few hundred years, Segas has been around to... speed up the process.<br>"What do you mean by speed up," asks Kai.  
>"Well," the picture has changed; we now see the New York skyline, the logo for Apple and The Post-It Logo.<br>"These are just a few of the innovations we of Segas have created."  
>"You guys were behind Post-Its," asks Wilson.<br>"You have no idea what the world was like before Sticky notes. Now, naturally, as I assume you all can imagine, we of Segas have people who are in charge."  
>"Like you," asks Toni.<br>"Ms. Sorrentino, I am no more than the host for this event, and I'd appreciate it if these interruptions would stop. Unlike many of our members, the Grand Master of Segas must remain secret, even to all of us, because of this; our leader is someone who is selected from society, someone who shows intelligence beyond that of normal people. That is why when our leader feels his or her death is upon them they initiate the Kings Championship, a Tournament where our top possibilities face off in a challenge of our current Grand Master's choice. This time around, our leader has selected a 16 player, single round elimination Duel Tournament where the winner will receive the ultimate prize. Whoever wins this tournament will become the new Grand Master of Segas."  
>"Wait a minute," begins the Samoan, "so you're telling me that whoever wins the tournament becomes the leader of you guys?"<br>"That's correct."  
>"And this is a lifelong gig?"<br>"Correct again."  
>"How much does this "Grand master make?"<br>"I'm no more than his servant. I don't know who he is or how... rich he is."  
>"Fine, one last question, what happens if whoever wins this tournament doesn't want to be your new boss."<br>He's laughing now. "The Grand Master said some of you might think that, which is why he made you all a little DVD to watch on just what you can do with the power of the king."  
>He has pushed another button and the screen now shows some guy standing in a big black room.<br>"... Son of a bitch, I remember when this happened. You're all going to enjoy this, so let's watch."  
>"Attention Grand Master!" The tall skinny man in the video says. "I request to challenge your ability to lead Segas via a match of Duel Monsters!"<br>"Challenge accepted."  
>The second voice appears to be coming through some form of intercom system that is also cloaking it to make sound inhuman.<br>Challenger  
>"The First move is yours."<br>"Thank you, now I play The Spell card Polymerization! Now by sending Summoned Skull and the Red Eyes Black Dragon from my hand to the graveyard I can summon the unstoppable Black Skull Dragon!" (ATK: 3200/DEF: 2500)  
>This is old, the opponents Duel Disk is pretty old fashioned plus how many people use Black Skull Dragon, no matter how big and menacing it looks.<br>"Next I set 1 card face down and end my turn."  
>Grandmaster<br>"Not a bad move, I discard 1 card in order to special summon The Tricky (ATK: 2000/ DEF: 1200) in attack mode."  
>"Not gonna a work because I activate Bottomless Trap Hole! Now your monster is destroyed!"<br>"Not on less I play Tricky Spell 4. Now I tribute The Tricky in order to summon 2 Tricky Tokens! (ATK: 2000/DEF: 1200) Next I play Token Bomb, now I destroy my 2 Tricky Tokens in order to inflict damage to your life points equal to their ATK points!"  
>"Wait, but that means-"<br>"Yes, it means you lose and I assume you know what happens if you lose."  
>"Wait no, no, no!" (4000-0)<br>Suddenly a big purple light engulfs the screen. None of us can see anything but I have a bad feeling about what's happened.  
>"He's dead," says Wilson.<br>He's right; the screen is back and it shows the skinny guy on the ground, cold and lifeless.  
>Winner: Grand Master Loser: Challenger<br>"That's it, that's the power," begins the Samoan, "this "power of the King is just the ability to do OTK's!"  
>"Have you been paying attention," says Ortega.<br>"The power of the King is the power over life and death. That man is dead because he couldn't prove himself intelligent so the Grand Master decided to end his existence."  
>"Bingo Mr. Ortega, whoever wins this tournament will become the new Grand Master of Segas and learn this ability and others from our wise leader while he still has time on this earth."<br>"What if you don't want to become this "Grand Master"?"  
>As Toni says this, everyone's eyes widen.<br>"Then throw your match. For the next 4 days at exactly noon, each of you shall find an envelope containing the location of your next duel. The tournament is single round elimination with standard duel rules applying. The winner will advance and the loser will be free to go, however, all 15 loser are obligated to never speak of what they have learned or what they will see for the rest of their lives, understood?"  
>Everyone begins to nod their heads. I think we all know what will happen if someone chooses to spread the story about what's going on here.<br>"Good, now, you are all free to go so long as you mind your manners on the way out and good luck to you all."  
>We all get up; by looking around I can tell everyone is deep in thought, although for some strange reason Toni is scratching her back.<br>"Toni" starts Kai, "is something wrong?"  
>"Well, what we just saw has me a little uncomfortable, and for some weird reason, my Bra really itches."<br>"Ms. Sorrentino."  
>Toni's heart stops as she turns around to see why Judge Taft has just called her name.<br>"Next time your here, could you please dress appropriately."  
>Confusingly, Toni looks at the rest of us and finds nothing to different with her clothes, jeans and black sweatshirt.<br>"Next time your here, dress like a woman should, with a skirt."  
>"Why-"<br>"Don't worry your honor she'll do it." Good thing Kai just interrupted Toni; I don't want another demonstration of what Segas can do.  
>With that we quickly jolt out of the room and back into the sea of people who have no idea about what's transpiring right under their noses.<br>"What an ass," says Toni.  
>"Like him or not we're all part of this now," says Kai.<br>"Apparently these nuts tested you guys to." I say believe me I have no idea how Toni and Kai were tested. "Do either of you guys think you're going to throw your matches tomorrow?"  
>"Hell no!"<br>"Toni."  
>"I agree with Toni, Chase. We're duelists, there's no way we'd ever even entertain the idea of throwing a duel and were not going to start now."<br>"But this could get dangerous."  
>"We knew that from the beginning," says Toni. "But if we're going to find out any more information about these guys, then 1 of us has to win this tournament."<br>"I think I might know someone who can help us with that."

…

"Judge Taft is an arrogant old ass with an ego big enough to fill the Hudson."  
>Nick Rush and I are sitting at an outside table at a small cafe in lower Manhattan.<br>"I take it you've dealt with him before?"  
>"He's one of the few judges who is immune to my irresistible charm."<p>

"I find that hard to believe."  
>Nick is a Criminal Defense Lawyer, hens why he's in charge of me, I figure who better to ask about a judge then a lawyer.<br>"Save the charm for another time, this guy has some serious issues."  
>"How so?"<br>"As in a few years back, I was defending a client out of my own pocket."  
>Nick has a habit of taking on cases that he has to pay for himself.<br>"A woman's daughter died and during the autopsy they found a chemical similar to Antifreeze in the daughters digestive track."  
>"Antifreeze?"<br>"Antifreeze, it was a liquid people used to use to keep the gas in their cars from freezing back before the days of Momentum. Anyways, the Doctors believed that the only way this stuff could have gotten into the little girl was if her mother made her drink it."  
>"Makes sense to me."<br>"Of course it does, but when I first talked to the woman she seemed as clueless as you about Antifreeze. Also, the police never found any evidence that there had been any Antifreeze in the house."  
>"But," there's always a but.<br>"But Judge Taft was convinced from the moment the case started that this woman was guilty."  
>"How so?"<br>"Think of it this way, the woman also had a son. Neither of the kids had the same father and the woman was never married. The 3 of them lived in a rundown apartment right on the Satellite border over in the Bronx."  
>"You're thinking social class bias?"<br>"Happens a lot, most judges come from rich family's so they grow up being told that poor people are bad and since their lives are good they never think otherwise-"  
>"You know that I know how that works but did you have any evidence that the mother didn't do it?"<br>Nick leans back in his chair and takes a sip of the beer he ordered.  
>"I did a little research and found a Doctor up in Boston who told me about a genetic disease that not only skips a generation but when tested, using normal tests, shows up just like antifreeze."<br>I can tell that Nick is still angry about this.  
>"Did it turn out to be the disease?"<br>"I have no idea, by the time I had found all this out, the little girl was buried. The mother didn't want to us to exhume the body until after Taft said the evidence was admissible."  
>"Sounds open and shut to me."<br>"It did to me to, but Taft wouldn't hear of it."  
>"Why not?"<br>"According to him, he wasn't going to defile a little girl's final resting place for an obvious case."  
>"But he didn't know that!"<br>"That man probably thinks he's god and as far as God was concerned this woman belonged in jail for the rest of her natural life."  
>"But, couldn't you have tried to go to the Supreme Court?"<br>"That was my plan but then World War 3 started so I left the city. Followed by the city being blown up and guess who was a huge downer in rebuilding this place, so I knew once the humanitarian was asked about the case it would be thrown out and then you showed up which basically stopped any other shot I had of getting this case appealed and then the statute of limitations ran out and that brings us to today."  
>"So a, possibly innocent, woman has spent, I'd imagine, almost 20 years in jail because an influential Judge thought she was street trash."<br>"Welcome to the wonderful world of the US court system. Now why exactly did you want to meet me out of the blue and how do you know Judge Taft?"  
>"It's a little hard to explain."<br>"It was a little hard to explain to my client why I had to reschedule our meeting because I needed to have lunch with a teenage boy."  
>"Fair enough, have you ever heard of a group called Segas?"<br>Nick looks shocked, so shocked he almost drops his half full beer glass.  
>"Where did you hear about them?"<br>He sounds nervous.  
>"Taft is part of them and their holding a tournament to find their new leader."<br>"And there thinking you?"  
>"As well as Toni, Kai, a little kid, some creepy journalist, a giant fat guy, some hipster, my classmate Charles as well as 8 other people."<br>"Listen Chase, Segas is dangerous. They've been around a long time and there not afraid to do whatever it takes to make sure most people think they don't exist."  
>"What have they done?"<br>"Look, there's just something's both you and I aren't suppose to know."  
>"Like what it is Segas does."<br>"Exactly, there more than just a bunch of rich guys who like to throw away cash, there dangerous."  
>"You mean with-"<br>"Don't say anything else. Just do as you're told and hope that when it's over they'll leave you and your friends alone, got it."  
>"Nick-" All of a sudden Nick's I-phone which has been laying on the table next to his plate is now vibrating.<br>"That's my 12:00, I got to go." He looks relieved. "Promise me you won't get into anymore trouble then you're already in."  
>"I promise." He is now quickly picking up his Brief Case and his I-phone.<br>"This should cover our lunch." He just dropped a crunched up $50 bill onto the table and he's now walking off.  
>"He's scared about something."<br>I look to my right; Debris Dragon is next to me.  
>"Has anyone been watching us?"<br>"Why would I know that?"  
>"I assumed you've been keeping your eyes open."<br>"Why would anyone be watching us?"  
>"We are involved in a tournament hosted by the most powerful and influential people in the city."<br>"Well that's one reason."  
>"This is serious; these people are apparently so powerful that they have Nick Rush, New York's biggest ego, quacking in his shoes. Whoever these people are they have this entire city wrapped around their finger."<br>"So then now what can we do?"  
>"The only thing we can do, Duel."<br>Next time: Round One Begins  
>"So far, both Rhodes and Leonson are doing everything according to plan." <p>


	24. 24 Round One Begins

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

Chapter 24-Round one begins

By Kevin Jones

_Authors Note: Sorry it's taken so long with this one, been really busy but I promise to try and be more consisitant in the future._

…

11:58, only 2 more minutes before the King's Championship begins. I'm currently in my Earth Science class and we're supposed to be working on lab on weather… or something like that, but right now I'm more worried about things running smoothly. 11: 59, in theory, the letter that will tell me who my first opponent is, will be in my mail box over in the dorm building. The only problem with that is that the first 2 rounds of the tournament will be during the school day, and there's no way my teachers going to let me out because I have a duel to get to. I tried that excuse once before, it didn't work. Noon, now if I'm correct the phone should start ringing right about- and here we go.  
>"Hello," for those of you who don't know, my teacher in this class is named Mrs. Sanders, although to be perfectly honest she looks more like Colonel Sanders than anything else.<br>"Rhodes," yes Colonel, "apparently you've been called down to guidance."  
>"…Works for me."<br>I grab my stuff and dash out. As I close the door behind me, I look around to see if anyone is around... nope, to the exit I go.  
>I should probably explain. When I got back to school yesterday, Vanessa grabbed me by the arm and brought me to the principal's office. Turns out the same FBI Agents from the whole Arcadia thing have a man on the inside. They were also able to bug all 4 of us, how? I don't know.<p>

It also turns out that the man they have on the inside is the same guy who was smoking yesterday. It also turns out the reason he was smoking was because he had a tiny camera in his cigarette, crazy, I know.

After that they told me everything they knew about Segas. They didn't know much more than what I already knew. They did, however, tell me that they would help all 3 of us make sure we made it to our matches on time, hens, me having to go to Guidance.  
>Good, I've made it to the dorm building without incident but it doesn't look like the guy they have watching the place, FBI Agent Fury, hasn't noticed anything out of the ordinary.<br>"Oh Mr. Rhodes," he begins, "it looks like you made it here alright but I hate to tell you but no one has been around."  
>They've got Fury behind the mail sorter desk and it looks like he's actually organized- wait a minute.<br>"If they haven't showed up yet, then why is there an envelope in my square?"  
>Confused, he turns around and nearly jumps as he sees that there really is a letter in my square.<br>"But, but how, I've been here all day and no one has so much as even asked about you."  
>"No point in trying to find that out now."<br>I get on to the counter and jump over. I pull out the letter and open it.  
><em>Dear Mr. Rhodes<em>  
><em>Congratulations on making it to your letter. Now then, in order to find your first challenge you must be able to scratch the sky with your large sword, but make sure that you keep the sword delicate enough for a balloon to land on. I wish you luck in your match and from all of is in Segas, have a pleasant day.<em>

_Judge Taft_

"What do they mean?"  
>Fury is currently looking over my shoulder at the letter, completely lost.<br>"These guys like riddles."  
>"Well what does it mean?"<br>"If I knew that, do you think I'd still be here."  
>"Well you better hurry before whoever your match is being over seen by forfeits you because you don't make it in time."<br>"No shit," OK I've got to figure this out. Scratch the sky, obviously they mean a Skyscraper, but that doesn't mean anything in New York. Large sword, they might be referring to a building that isn't part of the Tops. Could that mean the Chrysler Building or the Flatiron Building- no that still doesn't narrow it down enough. The key clue has got to be the thing about landing a balloon, could they be referring to a hot air balloon. No they don't have those in New York but-... they don't have Hot Air Balloons but they used to have something else in New York. Blimps, are basically large Helium balloons and the point on top of the Empire State Building was originally designed to be a place for blimps to be tied up to.  
>"You got any ideas?"<br>"Just one."  
>With that I run out of the dorm building and jump behind the line of bushes next to the building. I thought it best to hide my Runner here.<br>"Wait, where are you going!"  
>"The Empire State Building."<p>

…

OK, if I were to take a guess, then I'd imagine that the Duel is supposed to be held on the observation level. Luckily, the elevator says I'm almost to that floor.  
>"Ready for this?"<br>Debris Dragon is now next to me. We're the only ones in the clean, white, elevator so I know it's safe for us to talk.  
>"This could be a tough duel," I say.<br>"What do you mean by, "could be"?"  
>"There is no way all 16 of us are being considered to be leaders of these "Nut Jobs"."<br>"By us, you mean Toni, Kai and the kid."  
>"If they were really considering Kai or Toni then they would have tested them like they did me."<br>"Maybe those tests were meant for all 3 of you."  
>"It's possible, but it sounds a little farfetched that these guys have 16 people they think have what it takes to lead them."<br>Before Debris Dragon can respond, the door opens. The observation deck is basically a large room with several doors that lead to an outside terrace. Naturally since it's the middle of the weak there aren't too many people inside the room with glass walls and a marble floor.

Let's see, there's an Arab guy holding a 3 year old looking out the window so I doubt he's my opponent. There's a guy in a suit eating lunch on a bench so it's not him, which leaves-  
>"Hey you."<br>I turn around. It's the Hipster guy from yesterday.  
>"You're my opponent?"<br>He's dressed exactly the same as yesterday. He's even wearing the same Metallica T-shirt under the same black light jacket, with ripped blue jeans and a black skull cap covering a head of messy blond hair.  
>"Looks like it, now turn your disk on and let's duel."<br>He lifts an old beat up Duel Disk and turns it on.  
>"Aren't you going to tell me your name?"<br>"We don't need to know each other's names to duel."  
>He's serious, "ok let's duel."<br>Hipster Guy  
>"OK, since I got here first, the first turn is mine."<br>"Fine with me," we're beginning to attract the attention of the other people here.  
>"I play the continuous spell, Ghost parade. Now whenever I normal summon a Zombie monster from my hand, I can special summon another Zombie with the same name from my hand. Now I summon, Metamorphic Phantom (ATK: 100DEF: 300) in attack mode and thanks to my Ghost Parade, I can special summon a second Metamorphic Phantom from my hand. Next I set 1 card face down and that's it for me."  
>Chase<br>Zombie deck, they can be tricky, "my draw."  
>OK, on my first draw I got Debris Dragon, in my hand, I also have Tuningware, Big One Warrior and Foolish Burial. Foolish Burial allows me to send 1 card from my deck to the graveyard. If I send Quillbolt Hedgehog to the graveyard by using Foolish Burial, then send Tuningware to the graveyard so I can summon Big One Warrior, I can then summon Debris Dragon. I'll use Debris Dragon in order to bring back Tuningware and then I'll bring back Quillbolt using his own effect which will allow me to bring out Stardust Dragon on my first turn, draw a card thanks to Tuningware and keep myself safe from most trap cards.<br>"Alright Chase, bring me out, because I'm ready for us to win."  
>Only problem with that strategy is that I'd reveal my ace. Obviously, Taft is watching this duel. With about 5 security cameras watching us I'd imagine it's possible for him to watch me scratch my ass to. If I want answers, I'm going to have to duel for them and so far the only strategy they've seen me use to get out Stardust is by using Summoner Monk. If I reveal all my tricks now then they'll be able to predict every move I make and counter it. I've got to keep Stardust a secret until the time is right.<br>"Well, what are you waiting for? I haven't got all day, so make your move."  
>"You heard him Chase, summon me so we can beat his ass."<br>"I play Magical Mallet."  
>"Wait, what?"<br>"Now I shuffle 3 cards from my hand back into my deck."  
>"Wait, that's me!"<br>"Now I get to draw 3 new cards." Not bad, "I summon Elemental HERO Sparkman (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1400) in attack mode, now Sparkman, Static Shock wave on his left Metamorphic Phantom!"  
>What the- instead of attacking, Sparkman just looks like he can't tell which ghost to attack.<br>"Sorry to rain on your parade but you've now fallen for my Metamorphic Phantom lock."  
>"Metamorphic Phantom lock?"<br>"That's right, while Metamorphic Phantom is in face-up Attack position, he is the only monster you can select as an attack target."  
>"So with 2 on the field I can't attack one because I'm supposed to attack both."<br>"Bingo, looks like I got you stumped."  
>"Not exactly, I play the Quick-Play, Enemy Controller, now I can switch your far left Metamorphic Phantom from attack to defense mode."<br>Up until this point, both Ghosts have been creepily smiling at me but now one is merely a floating orb and the other is beginning to look nervous.  
>"Wait that means-"<br>"You bet, now Sparkman wipe the face off that Ghost!"  
>Sparkman fires his lightning volt and the Ghost vanishes in a pool of light." (4000-2400)<br>"Shame, except my Ghost isn't leaving me alone for too long!"  
>"What the?" There's now a grey see through version of my Sparkman standing where his Phantom used to be."<br>"Pretty cool huh, you see when Metamorphic Phantom is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard; he instantly special summons 1 Metamorphic Token to my field in attack mode. Plus, my token has the same ATK and DEF as the damage I just took." (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1600)  
>It's probably a good thing I used a weaker monster like Sparkman, I don't want to imagine giving this guy a 2500 ATK token. "I set 1 card and end my turn."<br>"Which means you've activated my continuous trap, Revenge plot from Hell! Now, during the end phase, of a turn where either one of us lost a monster by battle, the monster you used to destroy it loses 800 ATK and DEF points." (1600-800/1400-600)  
>"This is getting interesting."<br>Hipster Guy  
>"Glad you're happy," he has not changed his serious expression.<br>"Why don't you at least tell me your name."  
>"Fine," he is now showing a devilish smirk "My name's Toby and I'm about to secure my victory, now I tribute my Metamorphic Token and my Metamorphic Phantom in order to summon, Goblin Ogre." (ATK: 2200DEF: 2050)  
>It's big, it looks like its decomposing and it looks hungry.<br>"Now Goblin Ogre, destroy his Sparkman, full Zombie crush!"  
>Sparkman fires his electric energy at the large beast but the energy merely bounces off the large beasts exposed yellow bones. (4000-2600)<br>"Now my Goblin's effect activates, you now have to send the top 3 cards of your deck to the graveyard."  
>Oh man, Woodsman, Ocean, and Stratos but I'm not done yet. "Now I activate my trap, Hero Signal! Now because you destroyed 1 of my monsters by battle, I can special summon 1 level 4 or lower Elemental HERO from my hand or deck!"<br>"I just got rid of 3 them."  
>"I've got a lot of Hero's, so allow me to introduce you to one of my fiery one's. I summon Elemental HERO Burstinatrix! (ATK: 1200DEF: 800)  
>"That thing can't stop my Goblin."<br>"Don't forget, your Revenge Plot from Hell trap card reduces your monsters points by 800."  
>"Not exactly, I play Mystical Space Typhoon. Now I can destroy my own trap and keep my monsters points just the way they are."<br>Chase  
>"The bigger they are, the harder they fall, my Draw!"<br>"There's no way you can take down my monster."  
>"Just watch, I play Legacy of a HERO. Now, because you put 2 level 4 or higher HERO cards into my graveyard, I can draw 3 new cards," yes.<br>"I play Polymerization, now I send the Elemental Hero Burstinatrix on my field and the Elemental HERO Avian I just drew to the graveyard in order to fusion summon, Elemental HERO Phoenix Enforcer (ATK: 2100/DEF: 1200) in attack mode!"  
>He's wearing black, he's got big ass claws and Toby doesn't know just how much trouble he's now in.<br>"Sorry but flame boy over here doesn't have enough points to stop my monster."  
>"True but don't forget we're in New York City and as everybody knows, there's nowhere better for hero's to be than a city."<br>"And whys that?"  
>"Oh, higher crime rates, dangerous car accidents and of course, Skyscrapers."<br>"Skyscrapers?"  
>"Skyscrapers, and more importantly, the field spell Skyscraper!"<br>"I'm from Brooklyn, you're not going to scare me by using buildings."  
>"It's not the buildings you should be afraid of, it's my Hero. Now Phoenix Enforcer attack, Phoenix claw! Now thanks to Skyscraper, Phoenix Enforcer gains 1000 ATK while attacking an opponent's monster with more ATK points."<br>Phoenix Enforcer weaves through the buildings and plunges his large claws through an exposed part of the creature's chest. (2400-1500)  
>"Thank you."<br>"For what?"  
>"Simple, now that you've destroyed my Goblin Ogre, I can add any Zombie monster I want to my hand and I'm going with Apocalypse Ghost."<br>Oh shit, Apocalypse Ghost is one of the most powerful Zombie monsters in the whole game; luckily it's a level 10 so it will be a while before he can get it out. "I end my turn."  
>Toby<br>"My go, I summon Catapult Yokai." It's a little gremlin with a catapult on its back; I have a bad feeling about this. "Now I activate the effect of Ghost Parade. I summon a second Catapult Yokai from my hand. Now I activate the effect of Catapult Yokai, allowing me to normal summon a second time this turn."  
>"Wait, so that means-"<br>"Bingo, I can tribute my 2 Catapult Yokais in order to summon Apocalypse Ghost!" (ATK: 3000/DEF: 3000)  
>A large, crimson colored Phantom has now engulfed the field, covering every building created by my Skyscraper in a deep red haze, with Phoenix Enforcer in the middle of it all.<br>"My monster's first effect, all Field Spells are negated. Now, Apocalypse Ghost destroy feather boy!"  
>The Ghost's Jack-o'-lantern like face heads straight for my Hero. The black of its mouth now surrounds my Hero to the point where I can't see him anymore. (2600-1700)<br>"Now, my Ghost's effect activates, once per turn, if he inflicts damage to my opponent's life points, he can attack again! Now Apocalypse Ghost, end this duel-"  
>"Not exactly."<br>As the Ghost heads straight for me, Phoenix Enforcer jumps in front to take the attack.  
>"What the hell? I destroyed that monster!"<br>"Not exactly, you see Phoenix Enforcer can't be destroyed by battle. I may still take damage (1700-800) but I'm still in this duel."  
>"Yeah for one turn, now make your last move."<br>Chase  
>As much as I hate to admit it, Ghost boy's right. I can't just hide behind my Enforcer forever; I need to make this draw count. "My draw," this could work. I switch Phoenix Enforcer to defense mode and next I'll summon Wroughtweiler, also in defense mode. (ATK: 800DEF: 1200) Well Toby, it's your move"  
>Toby<br>"Good and unlike you, I intend to make it count, my draw, perfect. I play the equip-spell, Sacred Quill Sword. Now by equipping this card to my Apocalypse Ghost I can increase his ATK by 500 (3000-3500) and also when he attacks and destroys a monster by battle, you take damage equal to that monsters level times 200. Now Apocalypse Ghost, chop his little puppy into Filipino food!"  
>The Phantom throws the sword to my mechanical dog, getting him in the torso, (800-200) just as planned.<br>"Now it's my turn to make a move count. Now because, you just destroyed my Wroughtweiler, I can add my Elemental Hero Sparkman and 1 Polymerization in my graveyard to my hand."  
>"A lot of good that will do you, I end my turn."<br>Chase  
>OK deck, I can't risk this duel going on another turn, I need one card to win this and I need it now. "My draw," well, this card works to. "Time to end this, I play E-Emergency Call, now I can add any Elemental HERO from my deck to my hand and I'm going with the Elemental HERO Bladedge."<br>"A level 7, did you smoke a joint before you got here or do you just want to put in that last fighting effort before you lose?"  
>"Neither, well, mostly neither. Now I play Foolish Burial!"<br>"Foolish Burial, you've had that in your hand since turn 1."  
>"And I've been waiting for just the right moment to play it and now would be that moment. Now I can send any card I want from my deck to the graveyard and I'm going with Elemental HERO Necroshade!"<br>"Necroshade?"  
>"That's right, Necroshade and once while this card is in the Graveyard, I can Normal Summon 1 level 5 or higher "Elemental HERO" from my hand without tribute! I summon Elemental HERO Bladedge, (ATK: 2600DEF: 1800) in attack mode!"  
>"A lot of good he'll do you, did you forget, Apocalypse Ghost negates any and all Field Spells."<br>"I know but you forgot something to." He doesn't seem to realize it. "I still have 2 cards in my hand. Now, once again, I play Polymerization. This allows me to fuse Elemental HERO Phoenix Enforcer and Elemental HERO Sparkman in order to summon, Elemental Hero Shining Phoenix Enforcer." (ATK: 2500/DEF: 2100)  
>My new Hero is mostly green, with silver rock star hair, silver claws and a pair of silver wings.<br>"Big deal, your monster's still too weak!"  
>"Not exactly, you see Shining Phoenix Enforcer gains 300 ATK points for each Elemental HERO in my graveyard." (2500-4600)<br>"Wait, that means-"  
>"You bet, it means the light is about shine on you and your Ghouls, now, Elemental Hero Shining Phoenix Enforcer, Shining Finish!"<br>Apocalypse Ghost fires several blasts of red ectoplasm at my Enforcer but, his blasts aren't even remotely fast enough to hit the fastest of all Hero's. Then as the Enforcer gets close to the Spirits face, he pulls his arm back, stretches his claws apart and slashes Apocalypse Ghost to pieces. (1500-400)  
>"No, I can't lose, I just can't lose, every one's counting on me."<br>"I also can't risk losing, now Bladedge end this." (400-0)  
>Winner: Chase Loser: Toby<br>Even though it is no more than a hologram, Bladedge's attack has forced this guy on his knees. I should just walk away now and get some lunch... but... no! I'm not going to waste my time hearing about some, probably a weed smokers, sob story. "What's wrong?" Damn it, why didn't I listen to myself?  
>"Since when is that any of your business, you're just some rich kid."<br>"Rich kid?" Oh wait, I forgot, I'm still wearing my school uniform. "Believe me, I'm no rich kid."  
>"Yeah, well after this tournament is over somebody's going to be rich. Considering how much these people pay me when they make me do jobs for them."<br>"Wait Segas has you do jobs for them? What kind of jobs?"  
>"I'm no criminal, if that's what you're thinking. It's just me and my Mom at home. She's got to work 2 jobs and no one hires kids from my neighborhood so when these people ask me to a job, I do it."<br>"What kind of jobs?"  
>"Just deliveries- I'm out of here."<br>The looks on his face, it's like Nick's face was yesterday when I tried to get information from him on Segas yesterday.  
>"Look, if you win this tournament, just remember me as your errand boy, got it."<br>"Listen, I'm not in this to become the leader of these guys, I just want to learn more about these- hey wait!"  
>He's now dashing to the elevator. Wait a minute, the door just opened, he didn't even push the button, and it just opened.<br>"Wait stop!" The doors closed, he didn't do anything and me pressing the button isn't doing anything, for either Elevator. Unless... that's it then, these Segas guys are giving this Toby kid a way out. He's no more than a tool to these guys and they probably just wanted to see if he was worth more than that of a German Shepard. Even though this guy probably doesn't know anything major about Segas, they probably still told him they'd kill him if he talked.  
>"That's it then."<br>Debris Dragon materializes and says, "What's it?"  
>"I'm going to win this tournament and when I do, I'm going to destroy Segas."<p>

…

"The first turn is yours... what's your name?"  
>"Un, Unferth," says Kai's opponent. For the first round Kai is facing a chubby young man of about 23 with short brown hair that's parted in the middle."<br>"Unferth, what are you Danish?"  
>"Oh my god," he says with fear, "how do you know that?"<br>"Story of Beowulf, one of the characters is named Unferth."  
>"You've read Beowulf?" His surprised tone is starting to annoy Kai.<br>"Yes, contrary to popular belief, Latino people can read. Now can we just start the duel?"  
>Unferth<br>"Oh, yes, of course. I summon Mokey Mokey, (ATK: 300/DEF: 100) in defense mode. Next I set 2 cards face down and end my turn."  
>Kai<br>"Interesting first move, but it ain't going to last for long. I summon Tenkabito Shien, (ATK: 1500/DEF: 1000) and guess what he's going to be slicing your weird... square... question mark… angel thing, now sacred samurai slash!"  
>The bearded samurai unsheathed his mighty sword and had its great stead charge towards the strange creature, slashing it right down the middle.<br>"I activate my trap-"  
>"Sorry but Tenkabito Shien is unaffected by trap cards."<br>"My trap doesn't affect your monsters, just mine. I reveal Human-wave tactics, now during my end phase, I can special summon 1 level 2 or lower normal monster for every level 2 or lower monster that you've destroyed during the turn."  
>"Fine with me, I set 1 card face down and end my turn."<br>"In which case I now special summon Happy Lover." (ATK: 800/DEF: 500)  
>Unferth<br>"That's right tubby," thinks Kai, "Summon as many oranges with hearts on their heads as you want. I know your plan is just to tribute them, luckily I've got a nice little trick in mind for that."  
>"Now I summon, Mokey Mokey."<br>"Wait, what, another one!"  
>"Oh my god, you aren't going to kill me if I win are you?"<br>"The offers starting to sound tempting."  
>"Oh my-"<br>"Make your move or I'm going to have to kill you."  
>"Right, I play Mokey Mokey Smackdown. Now when a Fairy-Type monster I control is destroyed by battle, all Mokey Mokey I control have 3000 ATK until the end of the turn, now Happy Lover attack Tenkabito Shien!" (4000-3300) As the small Fairy is crushed by the horse's hooves, the strange little square begins to turn red and actually expands in size. (300-3000)<br>"Oh you've got to be kidding me."  
>"Now, Mokey Mokey, attack, Mokey Mokey Wave!"<br>The now round, red Fairy fly's towards the armed warrior, knocking him off his horse once and for all. (4000-2500)  
>"That's a new one."<br>"Next I play Mystic Wok. Now I tribute Mokey Mokey, in order to gain life points equal to its ATK points.(3300-6600) Next, thanks to Human-Wave Tactics, I special summon Haniwa, (ATK: 500/DEF: 500) in defense mode."  
>Kai<br>"OK, this is turning into an interesting duel. My draw, now because you control a monster and I don't, I can normal summon B.E.S. Big Core MK-2 (ATK: 2400/DEF: 1100) without tribute! Next I play the spell card Counter Burn!"  
>"What does that do?"<br>"Glad you asked, you see in order for my big red space ship over here to attack, he needs a counter. Only problem with that is he only gets counters when he's special summoned. Luckily not only does my Counter Burn give him the maximum amount he's allowed, 3, but you get hit with 800 points of damage for every single new counter. (6600-4200)Now B.E.S. Big Core MK-2, destroy his Haniwa, missile barrage! Now because Big Core was involved in a battle he's got to lose a counter and guess what thanks to Counter Burns final effect, whenever a counter is removed from the field while it's in the graveyard you take 800 points of damage. (4200-3600) Next I'm going to place 1 card face down and end my turn."  
>"Which allows me to special summon a second Happy Lover from my deck thanks to Human-wave Tactics."<br>Unferth  
>"M-my- dr-aw-"<br>"I'm not going to actually kill you. Now will you please just make your move!"  
>"Right, I play Pot of Greed, now I get to draw 2 cards. Next I play Dark Factory of Mass Production, allowing me to add the 2 Mokey Mokey cards in my graveyard to my hand. Plus I play Polymerization. This lets me fuse the 2 Mokey Mokey cards I just got back with the third I just drew in order to summon Mokey Mokey King!" (ATK: 300DEF: 100)  
>"That is one big Mokey Mokey!"<br>"Now Mokey Mokey King, attack his MK-2!"  
>The giant white square attacks the ship but is shot down by the ships missiles. (3600-1500) (1500-700) "Don't forget you still take 800 points of damage thanks to Counter Burn!"<br>"But now I get to special summon all 3 of my Mokey Mokey thanks to the effect of Mokey Mokey King! Now happy Lover, attack his MK-2!"  
>"You don't have enough life points to survive the attack."<br>"I reveal my trap, Gift of the Mystical Elf! Now I gain 300 life points for each monster I control!" (1500-2700)  
>Happy Lover has now blown up, (2700-1600) the final counter has been removed (1600-800) and now all 3 Mokey Mokey have turned red. (300-3000) (300-3000) (300-3000) Now all 3 Mokey Mokey attack him and end this duel!"<br>"Not quite."  
>"Oh my god you really are going to kill me!"<br>"No you idiot, I have face downs remember! Now I activate Gathering Flame! Now because you control more than double the monsters I do, I can summon normal summon Fire monsters from my hand equal to the number of monsters you control!"  
>"But I control 3 monsters!"<br>"Now you're getting it. From my hand, I summon Abaki and for my second summon, I'm going to have to tribute both my MK-2 and my Abaki, in order to summon Infernal Flame Emperor!" (ATK: 2700/DEF: 1600)  
>"But that's a level 7!"<br>"And Gathering Flame let me normal summon twice during your turn."  
>"My Mokey Mokey is still stronger!"<br>"So you're continuing your attack?"  
>"Yes."<br>"Then it looks like I win. Now Infernal Flame Emperor's effect activates. I remove from play the Tenkabito Shien in my graveyard in order to destroy your Mokey Mokey Smackdown."  
>"But that means-"<br>"Correct, since Continuous spells lose their effect the minute there destroyed and you already said you're not stopping your attack you lose!"  
>The large beast of fire releases a large stream of fire from its mighty jaws, burning the 3 fairies once and for all.<br>Winner: Kai Loser: Unferth  
>"Oh man I lost. Now Judge Taft is probably going to cancel my Internship."<br>"Wait a minute, wait a minute, you're an intern at the D.A.s office?"  
>"Yup, I never even wanted to do this, but Judge Taft, who I had never even met before, told me to enter this tournament or he'd pull my internship."<br>"So you're not even supposed to be here… Join the club."

…

"Oh crap you mean I have to face you first."  
>Toni is currently on the roof of Grand Central Station. Across from her on top of the 19Th century style building is the large Samoan from the day before.<br>"Hey works for me, if all I have to is beat a little girl in order to advance to the next round then I'll be done in time for lunch."  
>"Considering how long it took you to get here you should probably limit your lunch to a small salad."<br>"Keep using that mouth of yours and I'll have to stick something in there to keep you quiet."  
>"Why do I doubt you have a sufficient tool to shut me up with."<br>"You'll find out soon enough, but for now, I'll be nice and give you the first move."  
>Toni<br>"My draw, I set 1 monster and 1 card face down and end my turn. By the way who are you?"  
>"The names Vachel."<br>"Vachel?"  
>"That's right Vachel."<br>Vachel  
>"My draw, I play Shield Crush. Now your defense monster gets blown straight to hell! Next I summon Berserk Gorilla. Now, Berserk Gorilla attack her round little ass directly, Ape blast!"<br>"Fitting, an ape like you using a Gorilla, but unfortunately for you the defense position monster you just destroyed was a little armored Swallow called Blackwing-Mistral the Silver Shield. What's good about that is that when Mistral is destroyed, my next round of battle damage is negated."  
>"Fine, I play Ante. Now each player selects 1 monster card from his or her hand. Then who ever selected the monster with the lower level has to ditch there card and take 1000 points of damage."<br>"Works for me, I select the level 4 Blackwing - Bora the Spear."  
>"Sorry, but I select my level 5 Cyber-Tech Alligator, which means you lose your card and 1000 Life points, (4000-3000) sorry bitch. Now I end my turn with 1 Face down."<br>Toni  
>"My draw." "Damn," her brain yells as she draws a tuner.<br>"Need me to explain the cards for you?"  
>"Shut your trap. "I summon Blackwing - Shura the Blue Flame!"<br>"Silly girl, he's not strong enough to take down my Gorilla."  
>"Not yet, but now I play the Field Spell, Mystic Plasma Zone. Now all Dark monsters gain 500 ATK points and guess what my Shura is. (1800-2300) Now Blackwing - Shura the Blue Flame, destroy his Monkey!"<br>"Sorry but my Monkey is staying right where he is, I play Sakuretsu Armor! Now say good bye to your pidgin."  
>"I set 1 card face down and end my turn."<br>Vachel  
>"My draw, well, well, well looks like your about to lose this duel and I think after this I'll get a prize or 2 out of you, show you how a man does things. I summon Gene-Warped Warwolf and with no monsters on the field your done. Now Berserk Gorilla, direct attack! (3000-1000) And now its your turn, Gene-Warped Warwolf, show this girl why she should be at home playing with dolls!"<br>"Not today ass hole! I reveal my trap, Defense Draw, now all my damage is reduced to 0 and I get to draw a card."  
>"So your safe for 1 turn, you haven't made a good move all duel."<br>Toni  
>"My draw, now I play, Pot of Greed, which lets me draw 2 cards… OK fatso 2 things: 1, I've had better examples of men than you and 2, I'm going to end this duel, right here, right now. I play Black Whirlwind, now whenever I normal summon a Blackwing I can add 1 straight to my hand! Now I summon Blackwing - Blizzard the Far North (Level: 2ATK: 1300/DEF: 0) (1300-1800) which lets me do 2 things. First, Blizzard lets me special summon Bora the Spear in defense mode! (Level: 4/ATK: 1700/DEF: 800) (1700-2500) Thing 2, Black Whirlwind lets me add Blackwing - Fane the Steel Chain straight to my hand. Next, I play Double Summon, which allows me to normal summon again. Which means, here comes Blackwing - Fane the Steel Chain (Level: 2/ATK: 500/DEF: 800) (500-1000) and if you think that's cool then watch this! I play Tuner Interruption, now by reducing the level of 1 monster I control by 1 I can special summon 1 Tuner monster from my deck so long as I don't use the reduced level monster as synchro material. Now I reduce the level of Fane the Steel Chain by 1. (2-1) Now I can special summon Blackwing - Jin the Rain Shadow." (Level: 1/ATK: 600/DEF: 500)  
>"So you've got a defense position seagull, and 3 wimps, I am really scared."<br>"You should be, because 2 of my monsters are Tuners, First up, Blizzard and Bora!" Blizzard flew high into the air with Bora close behind. As Blizzard became too far away to see he was replaced by 2 green rings. Bora then flew through the rings, dematerializing and turning in 4 shining stars and with a big gust of wind, (2+4=6) "I synchro summon, Blackwing Armed Wing!" (ATK: 2300/DEF: 1000) (2300-2800)  
>"Scary, but not enough to beat me."<br>"Don't forget, I still have 2 more monsters. First up is Blackwing - Fane the Steel Chain, you see he can attack you directly."  
>The ninja bird man flew up in the sky and through his knife at Vachel who doesn't even blink. (4000-3000)<br>"Ohhh, I'm so scared."  
>"Good because now, Fane's second effect kicks in, now I can switch your Berserk Gorilla to defense mode."<br>"But wait, when Berserk Gorilla is in defense mode-"  
>"He's destroyed and now Jin has his attack and if you thought Fane was fun, just watch this. When Jin attacks a monster with less defense than his attack, that monster is instantly destroyed. The small bird lifted its tiny sword, jumped over 6 feet in the air and slashed the mutant Wolf Man in half.<br>"That leaves me wide open!"  
>"No shit, now Blackwing Armed Wing, direct attack!"<br>Armed Wing fired several rounds of bullets at the man, yet he still refuses to look scared. (3000-200)  
>"I'm still in this duel."<br>"Not for much longer. I play the card I had set all duel long Urgent Tuning. Now I can Synchro summon during the Battle phase and guess who I am using." Jin lifted its sword once more. This time, he twirled the sword in his tiny hand and transforms into a large green circle. The circle then positions itself around a now dematerialized Armed wing and with a big gust of wind, (1+6=7) "I synchro summon Blackwing Armor Master! (ATK: 2500/DEF: 1500) (2500-3000)Now, attack, Black Hurricane!"  
>The large black, bird man tightens its fist and heads straight for the large fat man.<br>"But wait, I don't have enough life points to survive that!"  
>"Hence the point of attacking." (200-0)<br>Winner: Toni Loser: Vachel  
>"No way, no way, now how the hell am I supposed to get my money now?"<br>"These people have been pulling the strings behind New York City for centuries, and all your worried about is money?"  
>Vachel puts an angry look on his, a face he is now showing to Toni.<br>"You stupid bitch, I swear, I'm going to teach you a lesson!"  
>In an instant the man runs towards Toni, and grabs her right arm. However, he doesn't see Toni's left fist as it smashes itself into the man's scrotum. He screams out in pain and loosens his grip enough for Toni to let go. She then punches the man hard in the face, followed by a kick to his left hip, forcing him to the ground.<br>"Do you know why I couldn't believe your name?"  
>He does not respond.<br>"Because believe it or not, I've actually heard the name Vachel before, it's literally a French name meaning big cow."

Ralph Ortega  
>"My draw, Mr.?"<br>"Feral, Waldo Ferral."  
>"Pleasure I play Random Burial. Now thanks to this card, I can send 3 copies of the same monster to your graveyard. Next I play Revive draw, now I draw 1 card and Special summon the monster with the highest ATK from your graveyard to your side of the field in attack mode, which means you get a Malice Ascendant in attack mode. (ATK: 700DEF: 1000) Next I play Halve Half. With this card, I send half the cards in my deck, 15, and cut your life points in half. (4000-2000) Next I summon, Malice Turtle (ATK: 50/DEF:50) in defense mode. Next I play, minus 40. Now since my deck had exactly 40 cards in it at the beginning of the duel, I can use this card. Now for every one of my cards that have been removed from my deck, this card gains a minus one counter. As of now it has 25 minus one counters. Also, every time a card is removed from my deck, minus 40 will gain a minus one counter. I set 1 card face down and end my turn."

Waldo Ferral  
>"Oh god you've got to be kidding me. You've got a tiny blue turtle with almost no points and I've got a creepy skeleton that has hair that's whiter than yours."<br>"I must be a moron."  
>"Must be, now I summon-"<br>"But wait, now the effect of Malice Ascendant activates, now I have to send 1 card from the top of my deck to the graveyard for each Malice Ascendant in your graveyard."  
>"Wait, so now you lose 2 of your own cards?"<br>"Yup," Ortega is smiling. (25-27)  
>"God, you must really want to lose real badly."<br>"So I take it, that means you want to become the new leader of Segas?"  
>"What can I say; I got a thing for power. Now I tribute your Malice Ascendant in order to summon, Airknight Parshath! (ATK: 1900DEF: 1400) Now Parshath, destroy his turtle!"  
>The female Centaur begins to gallop towards the shelled turtle; Ortega knows he has his opponent now.<br>"Sorry but now I can activate my turtle's effect; I can send the top 2 cards of my deck to the graveyard in order to negate your attack." (27-29)  
>"Fine, I set 3 card face down and end my turn."<br>Ralph Ortega  
>"Perfect," Waldo thinks to himself. "No matter what he does next I have a counter for it. If he tributes, fuses, Ritual or Synchro summon using his turtle, I'll destroy it using my Bottomless Trap Hole. If he powers up his turtle or any other weaker monster, I'll remove it from play with my Dimensional Prison. Plus, the minute he draws, I'm going to destroy his Minus 40 with my Dust Tornado."<br>"My draw-"  
>"And I activate my trap card, Dust Tornado. Now your Minus 40 card is destroyed!"<br>"Not unless I activate my trap first! I play Minus 40. Now we both have to discard every card in our hands."  
>"Lot of good that's going to do you."<br>"Actually it will, you see when Minus 40 has 30 Counters, it destroys itself."  
>"What type of a lame ass card does that?"<br>"One with an unstoppable effect! Now the true effect of Minus 40 activates! You take damage equal to your life points!"  
>"Wait, that means that you won this duel without attacking me once!"<br>"That's right; I won this duel in two turns without attacking once. Not as good as the Grand Master who was able to win a duel in one turn but a win none the less." (2000-0)  
>Winner: Ralph Ortega Loser: Waldo Feral<p>

…

"What the... no way... how could I lose to a little kid (800-0) and without inflicting a single point of damage?"  
>"That's the way it goes I guess," says Wilson.<br>He has beaten FBI Agent Havoc fair and square and with a man watching from a far.  
>"Excellent, excellent, I knew this boy showed promise."<br>From the observation deck of the Intrepid Air craft carrier, an old man looks down at the young boy, only being interrupted by the feeling of his cell phone vibrate against his leg.  
>He pulls it out and puts it to his ear; he knows who it is, even though he has not checked the number.<br>"So, what's the next round look like."  
>"As it would appear sir, all 8 duels are now complete."<br>"I know, I was just watching one, very entertaining."  
>"You don't need to convince me of that. Now, the winners of the first round are: Kai Rodriguez, Toni Sorrentino, Ralph Ortega, Andrew Smith, Benjamin Tennant, Charles Winthrop, Wilson Leonson and Chase Rhodes."<br>"Good, all the one's we expected to advance will be moving forward."  
>"It's excellent sir. Now I have a hearing to deal with, but as soon as it's over, I'll get the instructions and match ups ready for tomorrow."<br>"Good, get to it." The old man turns off the phone and places it back into the pocket of his black slacks.  
>He begins to look for any sigh, that either the boy or the man he faced are still around. Lucky for him, the man is now sitting on a bench, feeling sorry for himself.<br>The old man cannot help it, he is now laughing hysterically and paying no attention to the confused looks he is receiving.  
>"So far, both Rhodes and Leonson are do everything according to plan."<br>Next Time: The Stray Dot

"What is this place? It looks like something out of a mad scientist movie. I mean, everything in here is spotlessly clean. Considering where I am, this place should like the inside of a toilet but it doesn't. I guess there's only one thing to do.  
>I walk over to a filing cabinet. I pull open the top drawer, hopefully I should be able to find something useful in he- what the, what the hell?" <p>


	25. 25 The Stray Dot

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

Chapter 25-The Stray Dot

By Kevin Jones

Chase  
>"All right, since I got here first, the first move goes to me."<br>"Fine with me Mr. Rhodes; I'm actually quite curious as to your dueling style."  
>Day two of the tournament has me face to face with Ralph Ortega, the creepy Journalist guy from the other day. It's an unusually cold, cloudy, windy, October day with the 2 of us facing off on Ellis Island. Biggest problem so far is that this guy was a half hour late on a cold, cloudy, windy, October day.<br>"My draw, I summon Elemental HERO Clayman (ATK: 800/DEF: 2000) in defense mode. Next I set 1 card face down and end my turn."  
>Ortega<br>"That was fast."  
>"It feels like 45 degrees out here, next to a 45 degree river, followed up by the fact that were technically in New Jersey."<br>"What is it with New Yorkers and hating New Jersey?"  
>"Drive down there and you'll see my point."<br>"Very well then, I draw. I play Random Burial. Now thanks to this card, I can send up to 3 copies of the same monster to your graveyard. Next I play Revive draw, now I draw 1 card and Special summon the monster with the highest ATK from your graveyard to your side of the field in attack mode, which means you get a Malice Ascendant in attack mode. (ATK: 700/DEF: 1000) Next I play Halve Half. With this card, I send half the cards in my deck, 15, and cut your life points in half. (4000-2000) Next I summon, Malice Turtle (ATK: 50/DEF: 50) in defense mode. Next I play, minus 40. Now since my deck had exactly 40 cards in it at the beginning of the duel, I can use this card. Now for every one of my cards that have been removed from my deck, this card gains a minus one counter. As of now it has 25 minus one counter's. Also, every time a card is removed from my deck, minus 40 will gain a minus one counter. I set 1 card face down and end my turn."  
>Chase<br>I have a really bad feeling that he's used this strategy before. "I reveal my trap card, Level Returner, now I can reduce the level of Malice Ascendant from 4 to 2."  
>"I don't know what you're doing but now the effect of Malice Ascendant activates. Since you have two other Malice Ascendants in your graveyard, I now have to send the top two cards from my deck to the graveyard."<br>This is going to get interesting. "Now, I summon, Road Synchron! (Level: 4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 800) Next I play the spell card, Brain Control! I pay 800 life points, (2000-1200) now I get to take control of 1 of your monsters and guess the one I want."  
>"Interesting, you're planning to Synchro Summon using my level 2 Malice Turtle."<br>"That's the plan, now go Road Synchro, Malice Ascendant, and Malice Turtle! Give this journalist a new story to write!"  
>Road Synchron begins vibrating as it starts to quickly drive off; as its wheels turn they begin to vanish into 2 stars, one on each side. As the body vanishes, the stars turn into four green rings which stay parallel to each other in two groups while Malice Ascendant and Malice Turtle jump through them. They vanish into two sets of two stars, one set for each pair of rings. The rings place themselves 1 on top of each other and with a burst of light, "I synchro summon Road Warrior (ATK: 3000DEF: 1500) in attack mode!"  
>"3… 3000 ATK points!"<br>"Don't forget about my Clay Man, I switch him to attack mode!"  
>"I'll still survive this attack!"<br>"Not quite, I still have Road Warrior's effect! Now I can special summon 1 level 2 Machine type monster from my deck, straight to the field! Come forth Nitro Synchron! (ATK: 300/DEF: 100) Now, it's time to end this duel! Road Warrior, attack him directly, Lightning Claw!"  
>"Sorry but you haven't won this duel yet! I remove from play the Necro Gardna that exists in my graveyard to negate your attack!"<br>"I see, you used one of the cards you used as cost for Half Have in order to stop my attack, clever."  
>"Sending half my deck to the graveyard isn't a cost."<br>"What do you mean it's not a cost?"  
>"The card is designed to have a negative effect for both of us. For me it's losing half my deck and for you, its losing half your life points, seems fair to me."<br>"Bull shit, and don't forget I still have two more attacks raring to go. First up, Clayman use Clay Clobber (4000-3200) and second, Nitro Synchron, Nitro burn (3200-2900) I set one card face down and end my turn."  
>This guy didn't even flinch when he was punched by my Clayman.<br>Ortega  
>"My draw, (25-26) damn, I don't have enough counters to destroy you yet. Looks like I'll have to play this, then. I play Heaven's Lost Property, now we both draw three cards and then discard two. (26-29)Now, I reveal my trap card, Minus Hand! Now we both discard our entire hands, in exchange I get to place one Minus one counter on my Minus 40 card!"<br>"Let me guess, this was your plan from the beginning."  
>"Bingo, because now I can activate Minus 40's second effect. Now, since Minus 40 has 30 Minus one counters on it, I can destroy it in order to inflict 3000 points of damage to your life points!"<br>"Oh no you don't, I had a feeling Minus 40 inflicted effect damage, which is why I set this little number! I play Synchro Barrier, now I tribute my Road Warrior in order to negate any and all damage I'd take for the next 2 turns!"  
>As Ortega's card begins to glow brightly, Road Warrior rushes towards it. As Road Warrior slashes the card with his claws both he and the card vanish.<br>"Clever, but now I activate the effect of another monster in my graveyard. I activate the effect of Malice Angel; I banish her so now I get to draw two cards. Next I set one monster and 1 card face down and end my turn."  
>Chase<br>"My draw, and-"  
>"Now, I reveal the trap Exchange of the Spirit!" No, not that card. "You see, I can only activate this card when I have 15 or more cards in my graveyard, which luckily I do. Now I pay 1000 life points (2900-1900) and now we have to switch the cards in our decks with the cards in our graveyards."<br>"Which basically gives you most of your deck back, while I'm stuck with only…11 cards."  
>"I know, great isn't it? Not happy, well if you'd like, we can save ourselves the time and you can just surrender now."<br>"Kiss my ass 4-eyes. I summon, Elemental HERO Sparkman (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1400) in attack mode."  
>"Attempting to launch an attack are we?"<br>"It's more than an attempt, now Sparkman, Static Shockwave!"  
>"Oh no you don't, behold my face down monster, Spirit Reaper!"<br>Oh crap, it's the Grim Reaper. "I know all about Spirit Reaper and how he can't be destroyed by battle."  
>"A powerful card isn't he."<br>"Until, I'm able to bring him down. I switch Clayman and Nitro Synchron to defense mode and end my turn."  
>Ortega<br>"My draw, once again, another perfect draw." Something fishy is going on around here. "Now I tribute Spirit Reaper in order to summon, Vampire Lord." (ATK: 2000/DEF: 1500)  
>"Great, creepy, purple man with blue hair, fangs and a cape."<br>"He also has a nasty effect, and as soon as this attack goes through, you'll see it with your own eyes! Now Vampire Lord, darkness energy on his Sparkman!"  
>The Vampire jumps high into the air and fires a black cloud from his hand that engulfs Sparkman- (2000-1600) "hey why is the energy coming towards me?"<br>"Simple, now the first of Vampire Lord's effects activate. Now you have to send one monster from your deck to the graveyard."  
>"Now you're just trying to deck me out."<br>"Of course- oh you're getting rid of my Malice Ascendant and I thought you liked my little present." (11-10)  
>"Are you done yet?"<br>"Yes, you may draw from your tiny deck."  
>Chase<br>"My deck may be small but I have a feeling I've got something else that's bigger than anything you've got."  
>"Is that a small Penis joke?"<br>"Actually I was talking about skill but I'm sure that one's true to." Unfortunately I have feeling neither skill nor manhood can help me here. "My draw," (10-9) although this can by me some time. "I play, Hammer Shot now your Vampire Lord is destroyed."  
>"Not bad, going to attack?"<br>"I end," my life points are too low to risk an attack and his are too high to make the risk seam tempting.  
>Ortega<br>"My draw, another good draw, lady luck must love Me."  
>"Yeah and I'm the resurrected Ghost of Steve McQueen."<br>"Speaking of resurrected."  
>"What the hell!" A coffin has now sprung out of the ground and as it opens, I can see a familiar purple hand reach out.<br>"Whenever Vampire Lord is destroyed by a card effect, I can special summon him during my Standby Phase."  
>"Great," for those who can't tell, that was sarcasm.<br>"Now I play the equip spell, Vampires Aura. Now I reduce Vampire Lord's ATK by 500. (2000-1500) Now I gain life points equal to his level times 100. (1900-2700) Plus he can now attack twice per turn so long as you control a monster, inflict piercing damage and you have to send the top 2 cards of your deck to the graveyard."  
>"Plus the one monster I'll have to lose from Vampire Lord's effect."<br>"Bingo, now Vampire Lord, attack, destroy his Nitro Synchron and some more of his deck! (1600-200)Now you lose the top 2 cards of your deck," shit, my Brain Control and my Synchro Barrier (9-7), "as well as one monster from your deck," at least I don't have to worry about these Malice Ascendants anymore, (7-6) "and now I'll end my turn."  
>Chase<br>"My draw, (6-5) damn it; this isn't going to help me. "I end my turn."  
>Ortega<br>"Shame, looks like lady luck hates you. My draw, but once again, she's nice to me."  
>"Say lady Luck one more time and see what happens."<br>"Are you mad at me? Maybe a familiar site will make things better. I play Heaven's Lost Property, now we both draw three cards, so long as we discard two!  
>"Damn it." (5-2)<br>"Next, I play Smashing Ground, Now your Clayman is destroyed!"  
>"Clayman," he exploded, and now I'm defenseless.<br>"Now Vampire Lord, end this duel!"  
>"I don't think so, you're not the only one with a Necro Gardna and I'm using mine right now!"<br>Vampire Lord's blast is stopped by the red armor of Necro Gardna.

"Clever, now make your final move."  
>Chase<p>

If my last two cards are in the right order, I might still have a chance to wipe this guy's glasses off.  
>"My draw… you've been cheating the whole time, haven't you?"<br>"What makes you think that?"  
>"There's no way in hell anyone can be as lucky as you are. You're duel disk has a fixed shuffling system. It places every card right where it needs to be."<br>"So I've been figured out," he's now laughing. "Fine, I admit it, this Duel Disk is specialized to give me exactly what I need when I need it. I'm no Duelist and these people are looking for someone with intelligence. So all I did was use my strong points, such as computer hacking, to bypass my weaker points, such as Dueling. So, are you ready to give up."  
>"No, just wanted to make sure I was right. I summon, Junk Synchron (Level: 3ATK: 1300/DEF: 500)!"  
>"Another Tuner, but you don't control any monsters."<br>"That's what you think; now I activate Junk Synchron's special ability! Now I can special summon one level two or lower monster from my graveyard in defense mode! I summon, Tuningware." (Level: 1/ATK: 100/DEF: 300)  
>"What good will that do you?"<br>"Lot's, next I play the spell, O - Oversoul! Now I can special summon one normal monster with Elemental HERO in its name from my Graveyard!"  
>"Sparkman or Clayman?"<br>"Neither, I summon, Elemental HERO Avian!" (Level: 3/ATK: 1000/DEF: 1000)  
>"But wait, you could've summoned a powerful eight stared Synchro Monster, why only allow yourself to bring out a seven star?"<br>"Seven's all I need." Junk Synchron flew high into the sky; he then pulled the Cord on the engine attached to his back, allowing for the engine to roar. As they made more and more noise, Junk Synchron dematerialized and turned into 3 large green rings. Tuningware and Avian then jumped through the rings and dematerialized themselves into 4 shining stars that arranged themselves equally among the rings and in a burst of light, (3+1+3=7) "I synchro summon Junk Archer!" (ATK: 2300/DEF: 2000)  
>"Cute, you summoned an orange Robotic Archer with one eye, he still can't win this for you in time."<br>"Wrong again, now I activate the effect of Tuningware! Since he was sent to the graveyard, I get to draw one card." (1-0)  
>"You fool, now you're at zero. All I need to do is skip my next turn and I win!"<br>"There isn't going to be a next turn! I play Battle Tuned! Now I remove from play the Debris Dragon in my graveyard, so Junk Archer can gain 1000 ATK points." (2300-3300)  
>"You had this whole thing planned out from the minute I made you switch your deck with your graveyard!"<br>"Bingo, that's called skill, not luck and certainly not cheating!"  
>"Why you little bastard."<br>"What nothing better to say. I thought it was a Journalist's job to say snappy things! Now I activate Junk Archer's effect! Once per turn, I can select 1 monster you control and remove it from play until the end phase, Dimension Shoot!"  
>"Wait but that means-"<br>"Yup, you're wide open for a direct attack. Go Junk Archer, Scrap Arrow!" (2700-0)  
>Winner: Chase Loser: Ortega<br>"Figures, I finally wind up only a few days away from finding out everything about Segas and then you show up."  
>"Why are you so obsessed with learning about Segas?"<br>"Why do you think?" I can hear actual sorrow in this guy's voice. "When someone asked Leonardo da Vinci to paint a picture of a woman, he did it. When someone asked Evel Knievel to jump a bus, he did it. From the minute I first saw the Segas symbol, I knew it was meant to be my life's work. Even though I've lost today, I will learn all there is to know about Segas."  
>"Right, well before you go jump over a bus I think you can help me with something."<br>Ortega seams interested. "What could you possibly need my help with?"  
>"I'm trying to dig up whatever information I can on these people and part of that means finding out whatever I can about Judge Taft."<br>"So you want what I know."  
>"I'm almost certain I know more than you do. The only problem is that Taft seems like a Humanitarian to most and those who know better are too afraid to say otherwise."<br>"So then what would you like me to do?"  
>"I'd like for you to find me someone he's convicted."<br>"You're thinking he's got a few political prisoners aren't you?"  
>"Is it that surprising?"<br>"Not really, do you have any names in mind?"  
>"I can't find a name but I do know the case. Have you ever heard of Antifreeze?" <p>

…

"Do you think we can trust Ortega?"  
>Me and Debris Dragon are almost back at the school. If Ortega finds anything out, he's going to come to the school.<br>"Ortega may be a creep but he's not going to miss a chance to stay involved in this insanity. It's better if we stay at the school, so that way we're here to meet Ortega if he finds anything.  
>"Chase over here!" Oh crap, Vanessa is waiting outside the school gate.<br>"She might have a message from Mustang."  
>As much as I hate to admit it, Debris Dragon might be right.<br>I stop my Runner in front of her; she looks like she's been waiting a while. She's got a big grin on her face and considering how cold it is out here, she must really have something important to say.  
>"What have I done now?"<br>"It's not something you did, it's something I did."  
>I'm already losing interest. "You found a cure for out of control, excessively long hair."<br>"Very funny, I think I've found a previous Grand Master of Segas."  
>"Wait-what- how on earth could you have found that out?"<br>"Very simple really," Vanessa jumps on the back of my Runner, pulls out a pair of black sun glasses and places them over her face.  
>"What do you think you're doing?"<br>"Well obviously we're not going to walk to my apartment."  
>"Your apartment?"<br>"Do you want this information or not?"

…

As usual, Vanessa's place is empty aside from the 2 of us. Granted I haven't gotten a chance to check considering she's been pulling me like a rag doll to her bedroom.  
>"I've never been in here before." Vanessa's room is about the average size of a bedroom with a pink rug over a hard wood floor. Her walls are cream colored, granted I can't see one of them because it's covered by a giant bookshelf. Her bed sits across from the book shelf with the third with wall consisting of a large closet. A white dresser, covered in clutter, sits next to the closet with a peg board covered in different photos- "Is that me?"<br>One of the photos is of me; next to it is a photo of a Kai and another of Toni below it.  
>"I love to take pictures and I put pictures of my friends and places I've been to on this board."<br>I recognize some of these pictures; other kids from school, some are different sites here in the city, a few pictures of places in Europe, her Grandfather and- that's strange. There's a picture, an older looking picture, of a guy. He's got green eyes, short red hair, pale skin and a big smile. He looks too old to be a boyfriend, maybe-  
>"Found it!" Vanessa is looking at an old book full of Post-It notes.<br>"What's that?"  
>"This is a book about famous inventors who have influenced the city."<br>"Is there any particular reason you have that?"  
>"Well with everything going on around here what did you think I was going to do? Just sit on the side lines like last time?"<br>"That was the plan?"  
>"Well not anymore. While you guys were just willy nilly doing as the evil nut cases said, I went to the library to do a little research. I figured that since these guys wanted to push society forward then a few of them have probably become famous inventors here in New York."<br>"And you figured that you could find a clue to different members in that book."  
>"It was worth a shot." She picks the book off her white colored night stand and takes a seat on her pink bed spread. "Take a seat." I unwillingly walk towards the bed and take a seat next to her. She begins to skim through the pages, the smile on her face getting bigger with each flipped page. She looks like a little kid finding an egg on Easter.<br>"Chase allow me to introduce you to Mr. Alfred Ely Beach."  
>Vanessa puts her arm around my neck and pulls my head right next to hers.<br>"You need a mint," she really does.  
>"Just look at the page."<br>_Alfred Ely Beach (September 1, 1826-January 1, 1896) was an inventor from Springfield, Massachusetts. He is most noted for building New York City's first functional subway tunnel. _  
>"Do I have to read this whole thing?"<br>"You don't have to read any of this." Vanessa then places her finger on the picture on the next page.  
>The picture is photograph of beach shaking some guy's hand. Beach wasn't a very tall man; in fact, he kind of looks a little funny. He's got a fat nose with a flat front, as well as a mustache that looks like he tried to shave it with dull blade. On top of that he's pidgin toed with an oversized suit and a bad comb over haircut.<br>"Am I supposed to be looking for something special?"  
>"Right here," she slides her finger down the picture and stops her finger by the man's neck.<br>I roll my eyes, but I look down to take a closer look anyways. "What the hell?" I don't believe what I'm seeing. Right on the man's collar is what looks like a pin, but not just any pin. The pin looks exactly like the bird silhouette that Segas uses as its symbol.  
>"I made that same dumb founded face when I first realized it to. Alfred Ely Beach basically redesigned every city on the planet. Call me crazy, but that sounds to me like something Segas would want to do."<br>"How are you sure he was the leader?"  
>"Well at first I thought it was too good to be true. After all, if you were part of a secret organization, you wouldn't just keep your symbol on you, which is why I decided to do a little more research, this time on the Internet."<br>She moves over towards her night stand. She opens a white colored drawer and pulls out a silver lap top with a pink skin.  
>"You know there's a lot of bull shit on the Internet."<br>"I know, why you think I looked so tired?"  
>"Wait, how long were you looking for this stuff?"<br>"I got to bed at a little past 2."  
>"2!" Well actually she kinds of looks like she was up late. During history, she could barely keep her eyes open or her head off the desk. Even now she looks like she's about to collapse on to her pillow.<br>"It took me a while but I found Beach's original subway diagram."  
>"Now when you say a while-"<br>"I found it at about 1:30 this morning. Now check this out."  
>Vanessa places the tip of her short finger nail onto the screen.<br>"What the hell is that?" Under Vanessa's finger is a small dot in between 2 sewer tunnels.  
>"That's what I was trying to figure out. So I researched the diagram and I found this."<br>She now has up an old newspaper article from the late 2020's. The headline reads _Mysterious room found in old subway tunnel._  
>"So someone found an old room in the subway system," I say.<br>"And according to this article, this room can be located on any diagram of New York City."  
>"So in other words, this dot has been on every diagram of this city for over 150 years and no one noticed?"<br>"Plenty of people have noticed, believe me. Like Sherlock Holmes said, "There is nothing more elusive than an obvious fact."  
>"Like most smart people, Beach was probably over confident. From looking at this book, it looks he came from working class roots instead of an upper class family so the only way he could have joined Segas is by winning this tournament. He probably used some weird ability he had to make sure that the dot would always appear on every map of the city."<br>"Plus, if he really was over confident, then he probably figured he could wear the pin with pride and expect no one to notice."  
>"It's worth a shot. I'll head-" Damn, what about Ortega? I don't know when he's going to go to the school and if this is too good to be true then I'll ruin both leads at once.<br>"Oh no, I've seen that face before. What are you planning?"  
>"Hey, do you remember a tall skinny Hispanic guy from the tournament orientation?"<br>Vanessa ponders this thought for a moment. "I think so."  
>"I need to you head back to the school for me and wait for him."<br>"Why?"  
>"I'm having him look into Judge Taft for me. I told him, that if he finds anything out to come look for me at the school."<br>"Yeah sure, but where are you going?"  
>"Where else, the sewers."<p>

"Why are we in a sewer?"  
>"Be quiet Debris Dragon."<p>

During World War 3, a lot of bombs were used down here. The tunnels remained intact and a lot of tests were done to make sure they could still sustain the weight above. They passed that test but this ended up revealing that there was so much damage done to the inner structure that the power given off by the trains would eventually cause the structure to crack and shatter. But since everything gets used in this city and a lot of the old sewer tunnels were being converted to trash tunnels heading towards the Satellite Sector the government decided to make the damaged Subway tunnels into the sewer tunnels and then just build a new subway system.  
>We've been down here for about 20 minutes. Before I left to bring Vanessa to the school, I printed out a diagram of the sewer tunnels closest to the strange Dot.<br>"Even if we find this room, and that's a big if, how are we supposed to get into this room? Since it's supposed to be a secret in plain sight, I assume that means they lock the door."  
>As much as I hate to admit it, Debris Dragon is probably right. Like I said before, this is a long shot.<br>The underground of New York City is kind of like a huge Spider Web. It has dozens of tunnel networks that reach all over the city, each one serving a specific purpose. These tunnels go for miles in all directions; that includes down. Whenever there's been need for anything new down here they just went ahead and built whatever they could, where ever they could. Because of this you literally have networks of huge tunnels, and giant filling areas and we're looking for one room. One room in a dimly lit, damp, cold, sewer tunnel.  
>"Hey is someone over there!"<br>On instinct I quickly press up against a wall. The voice I just heard was loud and deep which means that this is probably a big guy. I can vaguely see a light through the corner of my eye. They are very few guards down here, but what few there are, tend to be armed.  
>"I know I saw somebody, now come out with your hands above your head."<br>What do I do? Judging by how much light there is I'd imagine this guy can't be more than several feet away. The echo from my footsteps is so loud down here, even if I tried to run; he could probably hear me and then catch up to me.  
>"Chase, what are we going to do?"<br>On the other hand, I could try just giving up to the guy... no that wouldn't work. If I do that then the first thing he's going to do is see my criminal mark and if he Sees that then the first thing he's going to do is bring me back up to the surface so he can file charges and I doubt telling him my reason for coming down here will go over well.  
>"I haven't heard you run yet, so I assume that your still here. Which means you've got till I reach 10 to come on out. 1, 2, 3...<br>What to do, what to do- that's it.  
>"Chase what are you doing? Why are you turning on your Duel Disk? I don't think this guy wants to duel."<br>"7, 8, 9,"  
>Come forth Nitro Warrior!<br>"Hey what the hell!"  
>Quickly, I take advantage of the man's shock and jolt in front of him. I tighten my fist and punch him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him and forcing him straight in to the water. As fast as I can, I begin to run. I'm not sure which direction I'm going, but I have to get some ground between me and that guard. If only I-<br>"Chase!"  
>I'm falling; I must be in falling into some kind of a drainage station. Damn it, what am I going to do- my instincts just kicked in. Something told my arm that there was something to grab on to so my arm did what it was told.<br>The lighting down here is so pour that I couldn't see where- I'm slipping. I'm holding on to a stray pipe. From the looks of it, this area is designed for water from different tunnels to drain into, which means the bottom, which looks to be very far away, is probably very- my grip- I got to think of something. This pipe is probably just left over from a previous design, which means-  
>"Chaaase!"<br>I lost my grip. I'm falling, time feels like it's standing still but I know that in probably a second I'll be under water. Even if it's not that deep from the height I was at there's no way I can hit the floor without breaking something. Maybe my leg, my neck, my head and I don't see-

…

"Oh good your waking up."  
>"What the, what the hell?"<br>About a second ago, I was falling, but now I'm lying on the ground... and it looks like Elemental Hero Voltic is standing above me.  
>"What, what's going on here, w-where am I... and where's Debris Dragon?"<br>"Good questions, but unfortunately I only know the answer to one. Debris Dragon got weakened to the point where we had to switch him with someone else. Seeing as you're probably going to need to break a lock, we all figured I was the best option."  
>"What do you mean Debris Dragon got weakened?"<br>"You tell me?"  
>"Huh?"<br>"One minute, we're all freaking out because we're all about to die and the next thing we all know, we're here and Debris Dragon is fading in out of consciousness?"  
>"That doesn't even make sense."<br>"How so?"  
>"How so! First of all, why would you guys die? Your all just spirits."<br>"It's not as simple as that." Why is he so calm about all this? "You see, are attachment to this world is through you. So if you die because of unnatural causes, then we won't be able to survive in this world so we'll just fade away."  
>"OK, fine, that adds a little pressure to stay alive but what's so bad about Debris Dragon losing consciousness?"<br>"Think about it for a minute. Have you ever seen Debris Dragon sleep?" I shake my head. "That's because us spirits aren't supposed to sleep while we're in this world. When we return to your deck, sleeping is mostly what we're doing. If a Duel Spirit were to lose consciousness while active in this world they'd literally fall apart."  
>"Then how'd we get here?"<br>"Like I said, I don't know but whoever, or whatever, brought us was emanating so much spiritual power that it not only had Debris Dragon facing his death but it filled this entire area with Spirit Energy."  
>"OK, so we're all in someone, or something's debt, but where are we?"<br>"Take a look."  
>I slowly stand up, still a little shaky I guess. I turn around to see a- a door- just a random door in a very old looking subway turned sewer tunnel.<br>"Whatever saved us brought us to exactly where we need to be," I don't believe this.  
>Looking around, this whole tunnel seems ancient. The only light here is being generated by Voltic so I can only see a few feet away but from what I can see, the walls of this tunnel are made from bricks. Bricks that have lost their coloring and because of the sewage, they look like a pale green color.<br>"This area is ancient probably," says Voltic  
>"From the looks of it, it might be part of the original subway network, which means that this tunnel is almost 150 years old, just the thought of all this mind-boggling."<br>"If you think that's mind boggling, then check out the door."  
>He's right; as I look at the door I can tell it's modern. It's stainless steel with a modern day lock on it.<br>"So this is it. The Stray Dot of The New York City underground and were locked out."  
>"Not exactly, don't forget, this entire area is filled with Spirit Energy and there's no greater power up for a Duel Spirit than pure Spirit Energy."<br>"Then why did it almost kill Debris Dragon."  
>"Little guy had to take the full blast of it. I'm just feeding off what's left." As he says this, Voltic places his purple hand on to the lock. You might want to close your eyes, this could get bright. I do as I'm told and as soon as my eyes are shut I hear "pop." "OK, I'm done."<br>"Wait that's it." I open my eyes in disbelief.  
>"This room functions on its own generator. All I had to do was burn out the circuit to the lock and then give the opening mechanism enough juice to open the door. Don't forget electricity is my specialty."<br>"Fair enough," I pull open the door but before I look inside, I turn back to Voltic. "Anything dangerous in there?"  
>"You'll have to look inside."<br>I pull the door and open, walk inside, feel around for a light switch and- "What is this place?" It looks like something out of a mad scientist movie. I mean, everything in here is spotlessly clean. Considering where I am, this place should look like the inside of a toilet but it doesn't. I guess there's only one thing to do.  
>I walk over to a filing cabinet. I pull open the top drawer, hopefully I should be able to find something useful in he- what the, what the hell?"<br>"What do you see?"  
>"You tell me."<br>Voltic walks over and looks inside the drawer.  
>"Well it isn't candy."<br>Sitting inside are several clear glass cubes. Each one containing grey lumps. I step back a little, there's something that's scaring me about these lumps and I have no idea why. I look at the cabinet but all it says is... Alfred Ely Beach. All it says is Alfred Ely Beach in black Marker. I look around, this entire room is nothing but filing cabinets, and each one has a different name written in the slot.  
>"This is what's being kept secret in plain sight. A bunch of filing Cabinets?"<br>"Well I assume that these little blobs are important. Try opening another one."  
>I hesitate but still I open a drawer across from the one I just opened. Inside is another jar. This one has a... a brain in it. Like with Ivanov but this isn't attached to a device this is just a pickled Brain floating in greenish liquid.<br>"So this room is for storage. Most likely all these drawers are probably fall of Brains that have been used in some way for experiments. Hey why are you looking at the ceiling?" Voltic is literally just staring up, motionless.  
>"I suddenly got the feeling to look and then- well take a look."<br>"Fine but- oh good God," on the ceiling, written in what looks like dried blood are the words _I saw the truth_.  
>"What does that mean?"<br>"We should leave."  
>"Do you know what that means?" I can tell he's keeping something secret.<br>"It clearly means that someone saw some form of a Truth but what truth they saw is beyond me." He's not a good liar. "We need to leave."  
>A part of me wants to stay but a part of me wants to go as well.<p>

…

"Brains, I spent the majority of last night on the Internet going through conspiracy sites so you could find a Zombie Cafeteria."  
>I'm back at school now, in my room actually. I'm sitting on the floor petting Steve while Vanessa sits across from me on the bed, holding her nose, apparently I stink from being in the sewers all afternoon.<br>"I assume that the room once served a different purpose. Even though it's in an old area, it's defiantly been remodeled a few times over the decades."  
>"So it's probably out lived its purpose and is now just being used for storage."<br>"I hope?"  
>"You hope?"<br>"There was something else in there. On the ceiling... well...-"  
>"Out with it already."<br>"On the ceiling of the building it said I saw the truth."  
>"The Truth?" Her voice just now had the same tone that Voltic's did when he read the words plus the expression on her face is definitely fear.<br>"Does that mean anything to you?"  
>"No- well- I don't think so. It feels like I've heard that somewhere before."<br>"Maybe on one of the sites you were looking at last night."  
>"No, I've got all those sites burnt into my memory and I don't remember hearing anything like that but I've definitely heard that phrase somewhere before, the truth."<br>She looks confused now, that being said I think Steve is probably the only one not confused around here.  
>"Knock, knock." I hear Kai's voice on the other side of the door. I get up and open the door to reveal both Kai and Toni. "Looks like there's a party going on in here."<br>"Just get in; technically I'm not supposed to have girls in here."  
>The 2 come in, Toni closing the door behind them. She takes a seat next to Vanessa on the bed and Kai leans his back against the wall.<br>"Something wrong Toni." Says Vanessa but before Toni can respond Kai opens his mouth and says, "She's out of the tournament."  
>Suddenly we all shocked, Toni is not the type of Duelist to be defeated easily.<br>"Who did you lose to?" I ask but instead of responding she appears to just get more annoyed."  
>"She lost to Wilson."<br>"Hey! He just got lucky."  
>"I thought you said you didn't believe in luck," I say.<br>"He used a weird deck, that's it. He'll probably get wiped out next round by one of you guys. But enough of that, Chase why do you stink?"  
>I look over to Vanessa; she nods as if she knows what I'm thinking. I'm starting to get the feeling she knows what I'm thinking.<br>"Well, as it turns out. There may be something... stranger going on here than what we thought.  
>Next time: Rain<br>"Wait Kai, did you just lose?"


	26. 26 Rain

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

Chapter 26-Rain

By Kevin Jones

Its dark, it's cold, and I'm on my Duel Runner crossing the Holland Tunnel into one of the most desolate places imaginable, Hoboken New Jersey.

…

I should probably start from the beginning. At about 4 o'clock this morning, I heard back from Ortega. Now if you're a reasonable person and you have something to tell somebody, that isn't life or death, then you'll probably wait till the sun is up, but if you're a conspiracy theory obsessed Journalist, you wake the person up at 4 am and have them follow you on a Duel Runner while you're in a nice warm car all the way to New Jersey!  
>I was awoken to the sound of "buuuuuuuuzzzzzzzzzzz." You see even though we have children making holograms of Monsters trying to kill each other, if someone needs to contact a student in, what is supposed to be, one of the most sophisticated schools in the country they still have to go to the front desk, give there reason for needing the student, and then get buzzed in using what I imagine is a 100 year old intercom system.<br>Now at first, my response to the buzzing was to pull my covers over my head, but after about the third time, there was a new noise in my room.  
>"Are you going to answer that; it could be important."<br>I didn't know whose voice that was. Debris Dragon sounded like a little kid and Voltic sounded like a young adult but this voice sounded old and gritty. I quickly rose from my bed to see neither monster but instead, Elemental HERO Clayman looking back at me.  
>"Are you naked under those covers?"<br>I imagine I got red at that statement. "Why are you here; I thought Voltic was supposed to be following me around?"  
>"First things first, are you not wearing underwear right now? It doesn't bother me if you're not but I'd like to know if I'm talking to someone who's free-balling it."<br>"The smell on me was so bad from yesterday that last night I decided to stay in the shower till the stink was gone…and by the time I was finished I was so warn out that I just plopped under the covers. Why are you here?"  
>"buuuuuuuuzzzzzzzzzzz."<br>"Answer that first."  
>Annoyed and without thinking, I jump out of bed. I didn't realize the consequences of that till it was too late.<br>"Well, at least now I know your dueling with a decent pistol."  
>I quickly place my hand over my gun and bullets. "Just turn around." As he does this I run over to the intercom and push the button. "What?"<br>"Good morning Mr. Rhodes," said Ortega.  
>"It is 4 o'clock in the morning."<br>"And you have to duel in 6 hours, it's imperative we get this done as quickly and as soon as possible. I don't know if we can rely on the woman you wanted me to find to stay in one place for too long."  
>"Wait you found her, you actually found her."<br>"Yes, once I found the case you told me about, all I had to do was find out what Facility the woman went to. That's when things got complicated. Do you remember that city wide black out from a few weeks ago, you know the one that shut down all the prisons and there security systems."  
>Oh shit, "no, I was out of the city at the time." Boy I hope this guy can't tell when someone's lying.<br>"Yes well, apparently this woman, Ms. Nadia Brown, was successfully able to escape. She was actually one of only 4 who have yet to be accounted for from that. I tried to find out who the other 3 are but for some reason there names seem to be classified by the FBI."  
>"There not important."<br>"Are you being defensive?"  
>"Just tell me how you found this woman."<br>"Alright, alright, knowing what I know about this area, I called a friend who lives in the most likely area where the woman wound up. Luckily, she was given a very original Criminal Mark. Turns out she's exactly where I thought she'd be the suburbs."  
>I was tired but I knew we might not get another shot at this.<br>"Alright, give me a sec to get dressed." I then toke my finger off the button and took a deep breath.  
>"Hey do you feel a breeze down there?" Then I remembered Clayman.<p>

…

"So this is Hoboken. Funny, even though this is supposed to be a bad area I was thinking it would be a bit livelier looking."  
>I ignore Clayman's statement. "You know you never explained to me why you're with me now instead of Voltic."<br>"Oh yes, well as Debris Dragon explained, one's spirit partner must be small enough to cross between both our worlds easily. Voltic was too big so he was only able to sustain himself in this world for the time that you were awake. Once he came back, I decided to take over for today."  
>"So I take it all of you will be rotating in and out until Debris Dragon is back up to snuff."<br>"Correct, do you think you'll miss him while he's gone?"  
>"Hell no."<p>

I park my Runner across from the building where we're supposed to be in. We're basically entering a 3 story apartment complex made from red brick. All though with the color fading on the bricks combined with the amber glow of the rising sun it looks kind of like the bricks are pieces of solid turd.  
>"Well we better get a move on. I've been told the elevator's broken and we've got to reach the top floor."<br>Hoboken wasn't always like this. I've been told that once upon a time this was supposed to be a nice area. A lot of people commuted to the city through here so it had a lot of New York City business, thanks to passing tourists and big city business people who would need to pick something quick up on their way home to their large overpriced houses, but without the New York City bad habits. Then World War 3 hit. Hoboken became a major battle site because it allowed for enemy soldiers to easily access the city through a sneak attack by using the River. Once the war was over and America "won" almost every New York Suburb was destroyed. Normally this would then lead to a strong desire to rebuild. Well guess what, turns out the giant heap of dirt that was New York City took Precedent over the suburbs which Left the suburbs with almost 9 million refugees and more than double that amount of casualties, thank god for all the great Humanitarians who donated so much money to rebuilding the city and allowing for all the now homeless suburb people to watch.  
>When it was announced that New York would be adopting the Economic separation system that use in cities like Neo Domino City in Japan and Milan in Italy, a lot of people who were afraid they'd wind up in the new Satellite sector fled. Only problem with that was since a lot of these people didn't have much money to begin with, the best they could do was escape Manhattan Island and settle in the Suburbs. Since the Holland tunnel was left in surprisingly good condition, considering it got bombed, many of these people wound up here in Hoboken. All that was roughly 20 years ago, now it's 2040, a lot of the "relief" that was supposed to come to this area never came, all the buildings are in bad shape, (many of which still have their WW3 battle scars) the economy here is low, violent gangs control a lot of this area, crime is high and most people live here now because they have nowhere else to go. This reminds me, as I was getting dressed before I had my radio on and I was listening to the news. Apparently after 40 years the government still thinks that area in the world that needs the most aid is still the Middle East.<br>"Well we're here, apartment 4a."  
>While I was giving my history lesson, Ortega and I had to climb 3 flights of stairs. There are enough jagged pieces of wood in this place that I'm lucky I haven't gotten Tetanus or fallen through the floor.<br>"You knock."  
>"You're the kid who asked me to do this."<br>"If I knock on the door she's going to see my criminal Mark and lock the door."  
>Ortega still looks unconvinced but instead of saying something else he turns away from me and begins to knock on the door.<br>"Who's there?" That voice came through the door, it sounded tired, a little drunk and depressed.  
>"Ms. Nadia Brown?"<br>I can now here the sound of running feet coming towards us from behind the door followed by I now here the sound of metal being moved once, twice, three times, like I said, this area is high in violence.  
>The door is now opening, unfortunately whoever is opening it has only opened enough to see Ortega and at the angle I'm standing at, I can't see her face.<br>"How do you know that name?"  
>"I've been looking into the death of your daughter. My name is Ralph Ortega, I'm an independent Journalist who-"<br>The door has now been shut, hard.  
>"Nadia Brown is as dead as her little girl. Now go away and don't come back."<br>Instead of responding, Ortega moves his head towards me. "I thought you said she wouldn't slam the door in my face," he whispers.  
>"No," I whisper, "I said that she was going to slam the door in my face. I never said she wasn't going to slam it in your face. Believe me I've had a few doors slammed in my face before."<br>"Fine then, you try."  
>I walk over towards the door. "The guy with me is a Jack ass." I say this to the door, hopefully she can hear me. "We know you escaped from the Facility the night of the huge Black Out. We used a contact around here to find you; we're here to talk to you. I also escaped the Facility that night."<br>"Wait, what," remarks Ortega  
>… "Why on earth would anyone want to talk to me? This isn't for some National Inquirer story is it?"<br>"This isn't for a newspaper article. The Judge who oversaw your trial, Judge Taft, is part of a group that has been manipulating New York for centuries. We think you may have been manipulated by him as well."  
>"What the hell have you done?" Ortega says this quietly yet angrily.<br>"People who have grown up tough can tell when someone is lying or trying to trick them."  
>"So you told her something that sounds completely crazy. You are-"<br>"You 2 don't look high."  
>Instantly we both turn our heads. The woman has opened the door, partially. She appears to be in her late 40's. That being said, she looks older in ways. Her face sags a little with bloodshot eyes, thin wiry hair that I imagine was once a nice smooth brown but is now almost a sickly yellow. As Ortega said she has a distinctive Criminal Mark. Hers begins at her temple, goes down, and around the cheek and ends somewhere around her chin.<br>She is wearing an old, what was once white, long sleeve shirt and grey sweat pants. Her hands are what worry me. They are dry and scarred with her nails appearing brown and unhealthy. This all seems natural, with all the drugs that make their way around Prisons, plus with all the lowlifes that live around here, scoring isn't hard. Although what really worries me is the kitchen knife she has in her right hand.  
>"I assume I should probably let you both in."<br>"It would be nice," says Ortega. In response to this the woman sticks her upper body outside the door; making shore that Ortega see's the knife in her hand.  
>"I'm only letting you guys in here because this one," she gestures to me, "gives me the feeling that he means what he says, got it."<br>Ortega nods vigorously, with that we both walk into the small apartment. Ortega shuts the door behind him only to find himself shocked at what he sees.  
>The floor is covered in trash on a rug that is indistinguishable from mud. There appears to be only one bedroom, granted it's too dark in here for me to see anything else.<br>"Mind if we sit down," asks Ortega.  
>"Be my guest."<br>Ortega takes a seat on what may or may not have been a red couch at one time but is now a brown, ripped, raccoon nest, trust me, I know small vermin homes when I see them.  
>Reluctantly, I take a seat next to him, mostly because I don't want all the broken glass on the floor to cut a hole in my shoe.<br>"So," Ortega says this as he pulls out a small note pad and a black pen. "Tell us about yourself."  
>What an idiot and from the look Ms. Brown is giving him, I think she agrees with me.<br>"My name is Nadia Jennifer brown. I was born on January 12, 1992. I lived the first 24 years of my life in a part of the Bronx that is now part of the Satellite. I stopped living in the Bronx when I was convicted of murder. They said I killed my little girl by having her drink some chemical I had never even heard of. I spent almost 25 years of my life in prison. Then a few weeks ago, all hell broke loose in the Facility I was being held in when all its lights shut off. I, like everyone else, just started running. Don't know why I started running, I had nothing in the outside world waiting for me but I ran with everyone else. After about half an hour of running through chaos, I found an open service door that lead to the loading dock. I snuck away, started running and after a few misadventures I wound here in what's left of Hoboken. Now you 2 shows up, a skinny teenager and a creepy journalist, and from another planet I assume, and tell me that the man that did all this to me is some cult leader."  
>Ortega crosses his arm, a form of body language that basically means oh shit.<br>"He's not part of a cult," I begin, "he's part of a group that believes it's their job to move society forward. They include people such as judges, politician's even inventors and right now there holding a Duel Tournament to choose their new leader. Both me and 4 eyes over here are, or in his case was, part of this tournament."  
>"Good for you, I don't see what that has to do with me."<br>This next part might just be what makes her kick us out. "The leaders, and possibly its members, appear to possess strange powers. When I first heard about your case it seems like it went one sided even with all factors considered so we thought that maybe-"  
>"That maybe the only reason I got convicted was because the Judge was magic, is that what you're saying? We'll let me tell you something kid, I remember the trial well. I remember being turned into sum drug addict slut who got tired of her daughter so she poisoned her. The only guy who believed me was my lawyer, who was distracted the whole time by an ulcer he got thanks to his divorce."<br>That's Nick for you. "I know it sounds crazy but there is genuinely something unnatural and evil about Judge Taft and right now you're the only one who we can talk to without Taft knowing. So I'm asking you to think really hard, did Taft do or say anything that seemed inhuman?"  
>She leans back in her recliner. She appears to be thinking hard. I look towards Ortega who has a skeptical look on his face. Wait, why does his expression seem more inquisitive? Oh shit, she's moving her eyes towards the edge of the table and there's something on the table, something I was hoping Ortega would not notice.<br>"Oh my god!" He noticed. "That's a, that's a, needle attached to a syringe!"  
>Apparently this guy has never done an article on the prisonpoverty drug trade.  
>"You got a problem with that?" Now she's mad. Please Ortega do not respond.<br>"That's illegal, drugs cause problems, and you could go back to prison." No shit Sherlock.  
>"Where do you think I first got hooked, Sunday school. I can tell just by looking at you that you've never done a hard day's work in your life and from the looks of it; pointy over here didn't spend a lot of time behind bars! I worked 2 jobs to take care of my son and daughter. I had been clean ever since the first time I got pregnant. When all this started I had my first boyfriend who wasn't either a crack addict or some drifter. I was happy, for the first time in my life I was happy. I barely got a minute to breath but I was happy. Then my little girl got sick. I held her hand as she died and then, while I felt my life crumbling beneath my feet, the police show up. Next thing I know, I'm being accused of killing my daughter with a chemical that had been discontinued years ago. That's what I told the jury but they took one look of me, the same look the doctor, the police and of course the judge gave me. I was and still am street trash. It didn't matter that my lawyer had found another explanation and it didn't matter that my mother died like my daughter did. All that mattered was that I was trash and they did what they always do with trash, they put it all together. I went from having a nice little apartment to having a woman who through her kid into the Hudson as a roommate and now and now..."<br>"I may be a Duel Spirit but even I can tell this is probably the first time she's admitting all this, even to herself."  
>"Now I have to stick a needle in my arm just to see my daughters face!"<br>"He'll pay."  
>"Chase, both the people in this room are staring at you."<br>"I don't care, Taft is going to pay. Ortega, do you have the symbol of Segas on you?"  
>"Ye-yes but I doubt she's seen it."<br>"Show it to her."  
>"Uhm, alright just let me get it out of my pocket... uh Ms. Brown, have you ever seen this symbol before?"<br>"Now that you mention it, yeah, I don't know how or why but I've definitely seen it before."  
>"I knew it, when a girl I knew first saw the symbol she recognized it to but she didn't know from where either. In fact she didn't even seem to realize that she knew the symbol until last night. A few days back she claimed something frightening happened to her but there is no way for what she claimed to have actually happened. Yesterday she showed me information that not even snow head here knew, which means that group Taft belongs to wanted me to know something. They used their powers to give her subliminal instructions on how to find the information I needed to know. While they were doing this to her, her Brain knew something wrong was going on to her so it gave her a memory that would at least let her know something bad happened. I don't why they did it on you but I intend to find out and you can hold me to that."<br>"Funny, I get it kid. Clearly you're the type of guy who has a short fuse when it comes to people getting ruined by the system and I appreciate it, I really do, but nothing you do is ever going to fix anything but if you want to go on some useless crusade on my behalf, by all means."

…

"So let me get this straight, you're only clue to where the match is a picture of a transvestite Prostitute and the phrase not aloud and you got Saint Patrick's Cathedral."  
>Vanessa says this as she runs alongside Kai and Toni. The 3 are running on the cold cloudy day to Kai's third match.<br>"Clearly you weren't raised Catholic," says Kai.  
>"And another thing, why were you so insistent that we all go get Chicken Wings for lunch?"<br>"Simple, when the tournament started, me, Chase and Toni made a deal. First one of us to be knocked out has to by the 4 us lunch the next day and since we couldn't contact Chase, lunch was my decision and I figured what better food to celebrate the defeat of birds than Chicken Wings."  
>"Just shut up," yells Toni. "We're here anyways."<br>The large Neo-Gothic-style Roman Catholic Church, towers over its surrounding buildings. People are constantly walking in and out of it, making it hard to find 1 of 3 people in a sea of hundreds.  
>"Do you guys see anybody," asks Kai.<br>"Well," starts Vanessa, "besides you the only people left in tournament are Chase, Charlie and that kid; we should be able to see them so long as they see us."  
>"Speak of the Devil;" remarks Toni, "hey guys look over there."<br>The other 2 look in the direction of Toni's finger, there they see a familiar face.  
>"Hey Kai, hey Toni, where's Chase?" Wilson runs over to the trio, a large smile on his young face.<br>"So Wilson you're my opponent."  
>Says Kai as Wilson stops in front of the 3, his big smile now being replaced with a look of confusion.<br>"You're not Chase." Wilson says to Vanessa.  
>"No I'm not, I'm Vanessa and I've heard a lot about you." She extends her arm to the boy.<br>"You, you have." Wilson's face is turning red but he is still able to shake her hand. "Your hand feels soft."  
>"Hey why didn't he get like that around me?" Asks Toni.<br>"Because she's not as scary as you are," answers Kai.  
>"O.K., Wilson stop going gaga over the girl and Kai stop pissing me off! Now will both of you please get to your duel!"<br>Kai's and Wilson's eyes meet.  
>"I'm ready whenever you are kid."<br>Wilson's smile returns, "Let's duel."  
>Kai<br>"Alright, since you gave a day of laughs for beating Toni, you can go first."  
>"No thanks, I'd like for you to go first."<br>"Why me?"  
>"I like to get the first attack."<br>"I like your style. My draw, I play Graceful Charity! Now I draw 3." "Sweet," Kai thinks, "I drew Burning Mummy. While he's in the graveyard, my opponent will take 500 points of damage during my standby phase and I'll gain 400 life points in response." "Now Graceful Charity forces me to ditch 2 cards from my hand. Next I summon Fire Princess (ATK: 1300/DEF: 1500) in defense mode. Next I set 1 card face down and end my turn."

"Plus Fire Princess inflicts 500 points of damage every time I gain life points. So this kids going to get 1000 points of damage next turn."  
>Wilson<br>"My go, I play Forest Wolf!" (ATK: 1800/DEF: 300)  
>"Is that a wolf in a dress?" Asks a puzzled Toni.<br>"Little Red Riding Hood!" Remarks a shocked Vanessa.  
>"Wait you know what that is?"<br>"Of course, don't you remember the story of Little Red Riding Hood?" Toni doesn't answer. "The Fairy Tale by French poet Charles Perrault?" Still no answer. "Little girl goes to see her grandmother who's been eaten by a wolf that disguises itself as her Grandma." Still no answer. "Never mind."  
>"Now, Forest Wolf, attack his Princess."<br>Forest Wolf jumps into the sky and swallows Fire Princess Whole.  
>"Not bad, a little weird but not bad."<br>"Thanks, speaking of which I also know that you have Burning Mummy in your graveyard, so to save my life points, I play Curse of Thorns." Suddenly Burning Mummy is dragged out of Kai's graveyard by barbed vines. It is now being tied between the 2 towers of the Cathedral. "Now your monsters effect is negated while it's in the graveyard and that's it for me."  
>Kai<br>"So you figured out my strategy, you're good. My draw, I summon Evocator Chevalier (ATK: 1900/DEF: 900) in attack mode. Now Chevalier attack his gender confused puppy, Knight slash!"  
>As the small red knight slashes the wolf in half, (4000-3900) a familiar face returns to the field.<br>"When Forest Wolf is destroyed all monsters it destroyed get special summoned to your side of the field. How did you know?"  
>"I've been around the block a few times. Now Fire Princess attack him directly! (3900-2600) I end, which means it's your go."<br>Wilson  
>"Gladly, my draw. I summon Glife the Phantom Bird."<br>"Perfect," thinks Kai, "a level 4, just what I need to use my Gravity Bind."  
>"Now I activate Glife's special ability. Now, I can destroy one spell or trap card you control"<br>"So much for Gravity Bind," starts Toni, "he did the same thing to my Defense Draw during our duel."  
>"Now Glife, attack Fire Princess! (4000-3800) Now to end my turn, I play Gingerbread House. That was a pretty sweet move wasn't it?"<br>Kai  
>"Yeah and suddenly I'm reminded of why I had so many cavities as a kid. My draw-"<br>"Which activates the effect of my Gingerbread House, now your Knight gets fattened up with an extra 600 ATK points. (1900-2500) but there's a catch, if he gets powered up passed 1900 he gets destroyed and I gain 500 life points." (2600-3100)  
>"Like in Hansel and Gretel," starts Vanessa.<br>"Hansel and Gretel, aren't they that couple that owns the German Deli over in the Village?"  
>Vanessa almost falls over after hearing this. "No Toni, "Hansel and Gretel" is the story of 2 small children who are lost in the woods until they are found by a Witch who lives in a House made of sweets. She lets them eat the sweets so she can fatten them up and eat them.<br>"And that's exactly what his card did to my monster but it's going to cost you. Now I play the Quick Play spell, left over sparks! Now because you destroyed one of my Fire monsters, I can special summon 1 from my hand! Now come forth B.E.S. Big Core MK-2 (ATK: 2400/DEF: 1100) and if you think he's cool now just watch as he gains 3 counters. (0-3) Now Big Core show his bird how a space ship does things, Missile Barrage! (3100-2200) Now Big Core loses a counter and if he doesn't have any counters then he's destroyed. (3-2) Let's see how you intend on stopping this monster."  
>Wilson<br>"Gladly, my draw. I summon Cinderella in attack mode!" (ATK: 300/DEF: 600)  
>"A pretty blond, I thought that movie was about a Boxer."<br>"That was Cinderella Man. Tell me were you ever a little girl?"  
>"Now I activate Princess's effects. First up, I can special summon 1 Pumpkin Carriage in defense mode as well as the equip spell Glass Slippers."<br>"A Pumpkin Carriage and Glass Slippers who, reads this stuff?"  
>"Most small children!" Vanessa is getting more annoyed by Toni's lack of Fairy Tale Knowledge.<br>"Now the effect of Pumpkin Carriage activates! Now Cinderella can attack you directly! (3800-3500) Now the effect of her accessories activates!"  
>"What the, why is Big Core covered in glass?"<br>"The same reason Cinderella is bare foot. When Cinderella inflicts Battle Damage to my opponent Glass Slippers gets equipped to one of your monsters. Now your monster loses 1000 ATK points (2400-1400) and it can't attack my Cinderella. Now I play the spell, Forest calling! Now I inflict the difference between the Forest Wolf in my Graveyard and your Big Core as damage to your life points. (3500-3100) Next, by removing Forest Wolf from play I can destroy your monster and hit you with another 500 points of damage. (3100-2600) And finally, my Glass Slippers now get re equipped to my Cinderella and she gains 1000 ATK. Next I set 1 card and end my turn."  
>Kai<br>"Clever strategy but it won't stop me. My draw, I play Monster Reborn, this lets me bring back B.E.S. Big Core MK-2. Next he gains his 3 counters (0-3) plus I play Heat stampede. Now because I control a Fire Monster I get to burn down your Gingerbread House and hit you with 500 points of Damage." (2200-1700) Now Big Core, I think it's about time to end the story of Cinderella, don't you, attack!"  
>"Her stories not over yet, I play Mirror Force, destroying all your monsters!"<br>"Oh well we tried. I end my turn."  
>Wilson<br>"My draw, now Cinderella attack Kai directly! (2600-1300) That's it for me!"  
>Kai<br>"My go, I play Pot of Greed, now I get to draw 2 new cards. Next I summon Dread Dragon (ATK: 1100/DEF: 400) and now he's going to cook a pie out of your Pumpkin Coach, Burn Stream!" That's it for me.  
>Wilson<br>"My go, Cinderella attack his Dragon!" (1300-1100)  
>"Thank you, now because you destroyed Dread Dragon, I can add a level 3 or lower Dragon from my deck to my hand and I'm going with Flamvell Dragnov!"<br>"Fine with me I summon, Tom Thumb and set 1 card face down."  
>"This isn't good." Say's Toni, a serious expression on her face.<br>"Why not?"  
>"Because, the field looks almost exactly like it did in our duel."<br>Kai  
>"I summon Flamvell Dragnov. (ATK: 1100DEF: 200) Next I play the Equip spell Synchro Boost, giving him an extra 500 ATK points! Now Flamvell Dragnov, destroy his Cinderella, once and for all!"  
>"Oh no you don't, I play the Counter trap, Negate Attack, which instantly ends the Battle phase. Next I throw down 2 face downs and end my turn."<br>Wilson  
>"This is crazy," says Vanessa, "everything Kai plays gets countered, not even Chase plays like this."<br>"That's Wilson's game but I don't think Kai's ready to throw in the towel just yet."  
>"All right, I play, Natural Tune, now with this card I can turn Tom Thumb into a tuner monster! (Level: 4ATK: 1300/DEF: 1500) Next I summon Tuningware (Level: 1/ATK: 100/DEF: 300) Now it's tuning time!"  
>Tom Thumb flipped into the air and turned into 4 green rings, to which both Tuningware and Cinderella fly through, dematerializing into 5 shining stars and with the sound of a child's horn in the back ground, (4+1+4=9) "I synchro summon Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier!" (ATK: 2700DEF: 2000)  
>"That's one of the rarest cards ever made; how'd you get one?"<br>"A gift from Segas! Now Trishula's effects activate! First up you have to remove from play the Dread Dragon in your graveyard, followed by your center face down and one random card from your hand."  
>"Not bad, you stopped my Sakuretsu Armor as well as my Mind Control, you saved yourself big time."<br>"Thanks and it's been a great duel, now Trishula destroy his monster and the last of his life points!"  
>Trishula's jaws opened and together, the 3 mouthed Dragon attacked.<br>"Wait Kai, did you just lose?"  
>"Not exactly Vanessa." As Kai said this, the smoke from the blast passed and even though Kai's Dragon was gone it had been replaced with 2 smaller ones."<br>"Wait how did you survive my attack?"  
>"Simple, you destroyed one trap but I had another. Thanks to my Flaming Dragon Spawn trap I was able to tribute my monster an special summon 3 Flame Dragon Tokens in defense mode. You destroyed 1 which leaves me with 2."<br>"You're amazing!"  
>"Thank you."<br>"I set the card I was allowed to draw from Tuningware face down and end my turn."  
>Kai<br>"My go, I tribute my 2 tokens in order to summon a monster who's going to melt your Ice Dragon! I summon Infernal Flame Emperor! (ATK: 2700/DEF: 1600) Now I activate his effect, by removing from play Fire Princess I can ditch your face down. Good bye Magic Cylinder. Next I play the equip spell Burning Spear which gives my monster an extra 400 ATK points and guess what happens next, Infernal Flame Emperor attack, burning hell stream!" (1700-1300)  
>"He stopped a legendary Dragon. Hey Toni, that means he beat the monster that beat you."<br>"Oh shut up Book Worm!"  
>"Your move."<br>Wilson  
>"Fine then, my draw. This could work."<br>"What could work."  
>"Just watch. I play, Reload. Now I shuffle the card in my hand into my deck and draw a new one."<br>"It all comes down to this," says Vanessa.  
>"I draw... it's been a great Duel Kai. The hardest I've dueled so far."<br>"Hey, what about me!"  
>"But it's game over. I play One Hundred Year Awakening! Now by tributing Curse of Thorns, I can special summon Thorn Princess from my deck!"<br>"What the, why is my Emperor changing sides of the field?"  
>"Because thanks to the effect of Thorn Princess, I can take control of your monster."<br>"Which means I lose."  
>"Yup, Infernal Flame Emperor, attack!" (1100-0)<br>Winner: Wilson Loser: Kai  
>"Oh well, everyone loses sooner or later, isn't that right Toni."<br>"Keep it up Kai and I will kill you."  
>"I can't believe I'm going to the finals!"<br>"You should be happy for yourself-" Vanessa is interrupted by the sound of Thunder, followed by rain falling from the sky.  
>"Oh crap," says Toni, "the weather report said it was just supposed to be cloudy, quick everyone into the church."<br>Everyone sprints into the tall building but before entering Kai stops and turns toward the rain.  
>"Something wrong Kai?" Vanessa asks, she then walks towards him as not to attract the attention of Toni and Wilson.<br>"No its nothing."  
>"You're lying."<br>"No it is, it's just when I was a kid my Grandma told me something about when it rains after something happens in front of a church."  
>"What?"<br>"Something very bad is about to happen."  
>Next Time: Warriors Vs. Fiends<br>"You don't get it Chase do you. Even if you beat me today, you'll never stop Segas.


	27. 27 Warriors Vs Fiends

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

Chapter 27-Warriors Vs Fiends

Charles checked his watch, 12:30. Rhodes was late and according to Taft's last text, the Duel between Rodriguez and Leonson had ended in Rodriguez's defeat.

"Let's see," Starts Charles, forgetting about the people walking around Grand Central Station, "if I'm able to defeat Rhodes today then that means I go on to face the kid in the final round- wait that wasn't part of the plan! The only reason I'm in this tournament is because they needed a 16th person to make it look convincing but then I over powered the first guy, and then the second guy chickened out so now I'm here in the third round and considering how weak a lot of Rhodes' monsters are on their own, I might

end up winning before he can Synchro or Fusion Summon. If that happens and then if I were to defeat the kid in the finals, does that mean I become the new Grand Master of Segas. If that happens then that means I'd control the entire city, maybe even the world but wait. The Grand Master has those weird powers, plus no one's aloud to know who he is, so does that mean that I'll never be able to let people know who I am. Oh no, if that's the case then I'll never lose my Virginity! OK then, the best thing to do is just surrender to Chase. Yeah I'll just-"

"What did you just say?"

Charles jumps in his seat. He then slowly turns around to see a soaking wet Chase in a navy blue cotton jacket.

"How long have been standing there and why are you wet?"

"First of all I just got here and second, have you looked outside, its not sun and Rainbows. It's pouring buckets, so can we please get this duel over with so I can get back to my room and get out of these soaked clothes."

"Wait a minute, why are you making it sound like you just want to get this over with. Shouldn't you be cautious of the deck I'm running?"

"Yeah right, like I have to worry about your deck."

"What, how dare you underestimate me? Don't forget, I almost one last time."

"You had an illegal card and a rigged duel Disk."

"Why you-… OK that's it, I'm going to beat you right here, right now! Then I'm going to win the final round, so what have you got to say about that!"

"You're not going to win. Now let's duel." 

Charles

"Alright, people who are on time go first. My draw… looks like its a blast from the past! I summon Abaki (ATK: 1700/DEF: 1000) in attack mode and that's it for me!"

Chase

…

This is clearly a trap. When Abaki is destroyed by battle we both take 500 points of damage. Well, at least my theory on his deck was right. "My draw," this will work. "I summon Elemental HERO Bubbleman." (ATK: 800/DEF: 1200)

…

"I knew it," thinks Charles. "He summoned a weak monster."

"Now I activate the effect of Bubbleman. When he's summoned and I control no other cards, I can draw 2 more."

"Dr, draw 2 more cards?"

"Yup, and next I play Polymerization, now by sending the Bubbleman on my field with the Elemental HERO Burstinatrix in my hand to the graveyard, I can introduce you to Elemental HERO Steam Healer!" (ATK: 1800/DEF: 1000)

"Since when do you have a big purple train man!"

"I've had Steam Healer for a long time, I've just never used him against you before, but it looks like now is the right time, so Steam Healer attack, fast track fist!"

Steam flew out of the Hero's smoke stacks as he glided across the field.

The large muscular demon attempted to hit the hero with his club, but before he gets a chance, a rounded metal arm jabs the creature in its gut, making it vanish. (4000-3900)

"Yeah well guess what, now we both take 500 points of damage."

"True but now Steam Healer's effect activates. When he destroys a monster by battle, I gain life points equal to your monsters ATK points!"

"Wait, then that means-"

"Yup, first I take the 500 from your Abaki (4000-3500) but now I gain Abaki's ATK power as life points. (3500-5200) I set 1 card face down and don't forget you take the full damage from your Abaki." (3900-3400)

Charles

"My draw," Charles says with a lack of encouragement.  
>"It's not fair," thinks Charles, "how come he's able to summon a fusion monster on the first turn and I can't even draw a single card that can help me right now... wait a minute, I think I have an idea."<p>

"OK Rhodes, it's time to get serious."

"Please do."

"I'm going to ignore that and I'm going to play Reload! Now I shuffle my entire hand into my deck and draw a completely new hand. Come on deck, I need this in order to win."  
>"I can here you."<br>"Oh... well... all right it's here! I just drew the one card that's going to win me this duel. I summon Archfiend Interceptor!" (ATK: 1400/DEF: 1600)

"Sorry but he's a little too low to win you this duel." 

"True but, in my hand is the most powerful card ever created."

"Funny, didn't you say that about a certain monster in our last duel."

"Oh, I'm not talking about a monster. I'm talking about a spell card. I play the continuous spell card Solidarity! Now thanks to the effect of Solidarity, so long as the only monsters in my grave are Fiends, all my face-up Fiend Monsters gain 800 ATK points! (1400-2200) Now in case you haven't noticed, Interceptor is now stronger than your Steam Healer, so with no further ado, Archfiend Interceptor destroy his Hero!"

"Not if I can help it, I play Hero Shield! Now instead of my Hero getting destroyed, my trap goes to the grave."  
>"True but you still take 400 points of damage!" (5200-4800)<p>

"Any other plans for your 4 armed football thing?"  
>"Just a face down and that's it for me."<p>

Chase

"My draw, and next I play the Field Spell Skyscraper! Now whenever an Elemental HERO attacks an opponent's monster that has higher ATK points than my monster, my monster gains 1000 ATK points! Now Steam Healer show 4 arms your tackle!"

"Sorry but I've got a trap. I play Bark of Dark Ruler! Now by paying 700 life points, your overgrown toy loses 700 ATK! (3400-2700)(1800-2800) (2800-2100) Also, now the effect of Archfiend Interceptor activates! Now you take 500 points of damage! (4800-4300) Plus, it looks like your hero felt the strength of my monsters 4 fists!" (4300-4200)

"Let's just see how long it takes before I wipe your monster out. I set 1 card face down and end my turn." 

Charles

"My draw, and I tribute my Archfiend Interceptor in order to summon Air Eater!" (ATK: 2100/DEF: 1600)

"Oh no, not another one of those things."

"So you've this monster before. Well, I bet you've never seen it with an extra 800 ATK points thanks to my Solidarity, (2100-2900) now Air Eater, attack him directly, Air Pulse!"

"Oh no you don't, I play Enemy Controller! Now your monster gets switched to defense mode and my life points stay safe!"

"Not for much longer. I set 1 card face down and end my turn."

Chase

"My draw, and I summon Elemental HERO Stratos!"

"Why," thinks Charles, "out of all the cards in his deck does he draw the one monster with ATK strong enough to take on my monster?"

"Now thanks to Stratos' effect I get to add 1 Elemental HERO from my deck to straight to my hand!"

"Oh crap!"

"Oh crap indeed because I'm going with Elemental HERO Captain Gold!"

"2100 ATK points on a level 4!"

"That's right, you're lucky I can't summon anymore this turn so I think I'll just attack with Stratos! Now Stratos take down green boy with

Stratosphere Storm!"

"Oh no, oh no, oh n-wait a minute, I almost forgot my trap card! I play Hate Buster! Now because you're attacking one of my fiends, I can destroy both our monsters. Catch is, you take damage equal to Stratos' original ATK!"

Air Eater explodes, destroying Stratos along with it. Members of the newly developed crowd are shocked at the excitement going on in front of them. (4200-2400)

"I'm not letting anymore of your attacks go through, I play Swords of Revealing Light. Now none of your monsters can attack for the next 3 turns!"

Charles

"My draw, hah looks like you're about to get what you deserve for underestimating me! I summon Ancient Brain! (ATK: 1000/DEF: 700) He may be tiny but thanks to Solidarity, his ATK is about to be as big as his brain. Next I set 1 card face down and end my turn." (1000-1800)

"Ha ha, ha, he doesn't even suspect that I'm setting up a strategy," thinks Charles.

Chase

"Sorry, but whatever tribute summon your planning isn't going through on my watch."

"...How do you know I'm planning a tribute summon?"

"You have too many stars on the field for a synchro summon and if you were planning a fusion or ritual summon you would have done it already."

"Well how are you sure that you'll stop me this turn."  
>"Because I've got this, I summon Elemental HERO Captain Gold!" (ATK: 2100DEF: 800)

"Oh crap, I forgot about him!"

"Well you're not forgetting this, now Captain Gold take down Metal Mouth, golden strike!"

"No, you are not beating me this time! I play Survival draw! Now your attack is negated and since I control 2 Fiend monsters, I get to draw a card!"

"Very well then, I end."

Charles

"You think your so tough! Why, what makes you think your any tougher then I am!"

"For starters, my hands aren't trembling."

Suddenly Charles' attention is drawn towards his hand. He is now suddenly aware that his hands are shaking as if they are in frozen weather.

"I'm scared." Suddenly, Charles slams his eyes shut, ashamed at the sight of his fear. "Are you happy now street trash? You finally happy, I admit it, I'm afraid, afraid of you, afraid of Segas, hell, I'm even afraid of that Toni girl! I'm nothing but a coward!"

He forces his eyes open. He is now looking at Chase who has not changed his expression. He is still showing the same annoyed/angry look he's been showing all game long.

"Say something, just say something already!"

"Surrender."

"What did you just say?"

"You aren't cut out for this. You're just a normal High School kid who got himself mixed up in something he shouldn't, so surrender now, go home and I'll take care of Segas."

"But why do you want to win this tournament."

"So Segas can be stopped, once and for all."

"They really got to you, didn't they? Fine then, I-I"

Suddenly Charles is frozen in place. His head is now facing down and his hands are no longer trembling.

"Hey, are you OK?"

"Of course Chase, why shouldn't I be."

"Chase," says Clayman, "I have a bad feeling that Mr. Charles isn't OK."

As if in response to that Charles lifts his head. He is now smiling and he now bares a striking resemblance to someone else Chase knows.

"His eyes," Chase is now showing an emotion, shock. "His Iris's have glowing red circles around them like when I dueled that Herman guy!"

Because the crowd has no idea what's going on, they are cheering in hope that this show will get more interesting.

"Now then Chase, if I were you I wouldn't get so confident."

"You don't scare me!"

With an emotionless voice he responds, "You don't get it Chase, do you.

Even if you beat me today, you'll never stop Segas."

"What have they done to you?"

"All they've done is given me a tricked out deck. My draw, first up I think I'll tribute my Air Eater and Ancient Brain in order to summon the ruler of all Fiends! I summon Archfiend Empress!" (ATK: 2900/DEF: 2100)

The tall demon has a woman's shape with bleach white skin and purple accents. Its long staff ends with 2 sharp blades and a skull connecting the 2. Its red cape and long purple hair are attached to a white bone crown, made from a rib cage with 2 demonic horns protruding from the crowns base.

"So that's your new ace."

"Impressed? Don't forget; thanks to Solidarity Archfiend Empress makes Aggibo look like your puny hero's."(2900-3700)

"Your demented queen still can't get passed my Swords."  
>"About those, I play Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying your Swords."<p>

As the swords fade from sight, Chase begins to sweat.

"Stay strong Chase, you'll still have life points after this attack."

"Go Archfiend Empress, malevolent scepter blast!"

Captain Gold jumped out of the way but as the purple beam hit granite floor, it then jumped up and shocked Captain Gold till it exploded. (2400-800)

"That was my most powerful level 4."

"I know, and that's what makes it all the more fun. I end my turn."

Chase 

"It's no good." Now Chase's hands are trembling. "Skyscraper only increases my HERO's power by 1000. That won't give any HERO over 3000 ATK points. I only have 3 cards and none of them can help me here. I don't know what to do."

Suddenly, Chase drops to his knees. He no longer seems angry or emotionless; instead he appears scared and confused.

"Well, now who's scared?" Charles says this in a mocking tone. "Do you wish to surrender?"

"You better answer him Chase." Clayman is standing tall in front of the young boy. There is neither anger nor shame in his voice. "It's OK if you surrender. Taft said that you don't have to stay in the tournament."

"But if I surrender then who will stop Segas?"

"What's there really to stop? Taft is rich elitist. What happened to that woman from this morning isn't Segas's fault nor is it your responsibility to make society pay for its faults."

"But what about Charles and anyone else being controlled by Segas."

"There's no proof that this is a common thing they do. This is an important time for them so they probably decided to test you in as many ways as possible. Charles is now no more than another test."

"Your right, I should just surrender."

"The only other problem with surrendering is that if you surrender then you'll have broken your promise."

"My, my promise?"

"Just because we Hero's are never right next to you, it doesn't mean we don't know what's going on. I remember the night you made that promise. I remember what was going on that time, I remember why you made it and I remember who you made that promise to."

Chase is no longer listening to the clay warrior. He is now thinking back to a night so long ago yet so recent he can still remember all the details. He can see all the lights, hear all the noises and he can remember a face. A beautiful face stained with tears and what touching that beautiful face led to.

"Well, you gonna give up or not?"

Chase puts his hand over the scar on his neck. He then rises oof the floor and places his hand on the top of his deck.

"My draw!"

"So you're going to stick around for your smack down after all, very ballsy."

"The only one getting a smack down here is you. I play Fusion Recovery! Now thanks to this card, I get 1 Polymerization and one Fusion Material monster back from my grave!"

"Fuse all you want there's no way you can summon a monster with enough points to destroy my Empress."

"Just watch, I play Polymerization! Now I can fuse Elemental HERO Bubbleman with the Elemental HERO Avian I just drew in order to fusion summon, Elemental HERO Absolute Zero!" (ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000)

"Wow, from what I've been told, that's your favorite fusion monster. I just wish we hadn't met under such defensive circumstances."

"He's not in defense mode."

"What? Even with your Skyscraper he doesn't have enough power to defeat my monster and its all thanks to-"

"All thanks to Solidarity. Yeah, I've heard you save that probably 5000 times at this point so I think I'll destroy Solidarity! I play R-Righteous Justice!"

"What's that do?"

"Simple really, now I can destroy spell/trap cards equal to the number of face-up Elemental HERO cards I control. True that's only 1 but 1's all I need!"

"No, without Solidarity my Empress returns back to normal!"

"No shit, Sherlock, (3700-2900) now Elemental HERO Absolute Zero, attack his Empress, instant freeze!"

Absolute Zero raised his snow white hand and fired a blast of ice blue energy at Archfiend Empress. Empress responded with a blast of black energy from her staff. The 2 beams appear to be dancing with each other but in half a second, (2500-3500) the beam of black energy freezes and the blue energy uses this as its path straight to the Empress. She attempts to flee but before she's able to even drop her staff, she is frozen solid, then, both players hear cracking noises, then another, and another, and another until.

"My, my Empress, it, it just shattered." (2700-2100)

"That was the plan."

"Actually, that was my back up plan."

"Back up plan?"

"That's right. You see, my Empress has ability. When she's destroyed by battle, I can special summon 1 level 6 or higher Fiend-Type monster from my graveyard. Now return to the field, Air Eater."

"Not him again. I set 1 card face down and end my turn."

Charles

"My draw. Funny, you have no cards in your hand and you have 2 cards on the field. Since you flat out said a minute ago that none of the cards in your hand can help you, all I need to do is power up my Air Eater and summon another monster but how do I do that with only 1 card in my hand? Oh I know how, I play, Fiend's aid! Now since I control another Fiend I can select 1 level 4 or lower Fiend monster in my graveyard, special summon it and increase my first monsters ATK power by its level time 200. Which means, thanks to my Abaki, Air Eater is now the strongest monster on the field! (2100-2900) Now Air Eater, destroy his Zero and empty his field, air missiles!"

Suddenly, all 4 of Air Eaters arms open from the bottom to reveal 4 missiles. The missiles fire and Absolute Zero covers his arms over his face as he is blasted to smithereens. (800-400)

"Now that your monsters destroyed I can- what's with the light?"

"The reason my hand was useless before, was because I didn't have a monster and since you destroyed my monster, Hero Signal activates. Now I can special summon 1 level 4 or lower Elemental HERO from my deck to the field. Now I summon Elemental HERO Ocean!" (ATK: 1500/DEF: 1200)

"He doesn't have enough power to destroy either my monsters."

"What monsters?"

The mind-controlled Charles now shows shock as he realizes his field is empty. "What, what did you do?"

"Do you know why Absolute Zero is my favorite fusion monster, it's because when he's removed from the field, he takes all your monsters with him."

"But that leads me wide open for a direct attack! Wait...even though I'm out of cards, your monster doesn't have enough points to take me down."

"We'll see about that."

Chase

"My draw."

"Did you get a monster?"

"Nope, good think for Ocean's special ability."

"Special... ability?" Charles is now worried.

"That's right and now since it's my Standby Phase, Ocean lets me add 1 Hero from my deck, straight to my hand."

"But, but that means-"

"Yup, now I summon Elemental HERO Burstinatrix!" (ATK: 1200/DEF: 800)

"But, there's no way for me to get out of this attack."

"Funny, I thought that was how you Segas people liked your targets to be. Now, Ocean, Aqua trident (2100-600) and last but not least, Burstinatrix, send this guy back to mommy, flare storm!" (600-0)

Winner: Chase Loser: Charles

"OK Charles, no more hiding behind stupidity. I want to know everything you know about Segas."

Charles does not respond. Instead he appears as if the trident jab to the stomach and the blasts of fire were real instead of just illusions.

"Hey kid," say's a voice from the crowd, "I think your friend is feeling sick."

Before Chase can respond, Charles hits the ground hard, eyes wide open and with the red light around his irises gone.

…

Charles' is not awake or at least he doesn't believe he is. His eyes are closed and for the first time in almost a month, he feels as if he is not in some kind of dream world. He's wondering if he's dead but as he becomes more aware of what his senses are telling him, he knows he is indeed alive. He can feel plastic on his chest and he can hear a light beep to his right. He tries to lift his arms, only to realize that he is covered in a nice warm blanket. With this information, he has come to the conclusion that he is in bed and the bizarre images in his head, such as a tall white armored super hero, or a giant being blown up by a floating hair drier and the strangest image of all, a purple silhouette of a flying bird are know more than a strange dream.

As he tries to open his eyes, the bright light forces him to close them; he tries this 2 or 3 times before his new surroundings begins to take shape. The room is white with a series of windows to the right. The room is small; he can even see several strange machines next to him, then it hits him. He's in a hospital room. He suddenly starts panicking. He's wondering, "was I in an accident, did someone shoot me, and better yet, why is it the last thing I remember is some cop telling me that Chase Rhodes has vanished?"

Suddenly, Charles feels a soft warm hand land on his and suddenly, he calms down. He looks to his right and he sees that the hand is owned by an angel. A beautiful angel with long red, almost fire colored, hair. She has flawless white skin and green eyes and the best part is she's smiling at him.

"Are you OK Charles?" She says this with the voice of an angel and with a west coast accent.

"You, you know my name?"  
>"Of course, I know your name. Why wouldn't I know your name?"<p>

"I've never seen you a day in my life."

"Wait you don't remember her?"

Suddenly, Charles freezes at the sound of the new voice. He then slowly turns his head 180 degrees to see Chase Rhodes leaning against the corner wall. Charles then screams and jumps nearly a foot off the bead.

"You, you disappeared... and why do you have a criminal mark!"

"What are you talking about? You're the one who disappeared and I've- wait a minute... Charles, what do you think today's date is?"

"...Last time I checked, it was October 4th. You didn't show up for class and... 2 cops showed up. They started asking to speak to kids individually and next thing I knew, I'm here."

"October 4th," remarks Vanessa, "Chase that's the day we met."

"That's also 24 hours after I was last seen on campus. Which means if I was reported missing that would be the time they'd start looking for me."

"But you told me that Moretti covered for you."

"Moretti... the history teacher, what's he got to do with this!"

"Not important," says Chase, "what is important, is what did the cops say to you?"

"They said... they said... I have no idea what they said. All I remember was opening the door and next thing I know, I'm here. Oh my god, what's happening to me."

"Charles," begins Vanessa, "there's no easy way to say this but... well... honestly-"

"It's October 30th-"

"Chase!" Vanessa's face now shows anger; a sharp contrast to the combination of shock and confusion on Charles.

"No- it, it can't be. How could I have been asleep for that long? Where's my Mom and Dad?"

"Charles, you haven't been unconscious. Chase had to do something complicated and that's how we met. The day I transferred here, you and I met in Math class where you kept talking to me about pony's, for some weird reason. Later that day, you saw me hanging out with 2 of my friends. One of them was Chase. You then started dueling Chase and then you disappeared until 3 days ago when you entered a duel tournament. You lost that tournament to Chase a few hours ago."

"I don't remember any of that! What, what's going on here."

"Listen Charles, this isn't easy to explain, but you have a right to know. For the past several weeks you've been manipulated by a group called-"

"Excuse me Mr. Rhodes, Ms. Aaronson, you're going to have to come with us."

Standing in the doorway are 2 men. One is tall with grey hair and an aging face. The other is shorter, younger and about twice as wide. Both men seem serious and both men are wearing black suits.

"Can't you see we're busy?" As Chase says this, he moves himself in front of Vanessa.

"We have specific instructions to bring you with us."

"Sorry but we promised the Doctor that we'd stay here until Charles' parents get here." Says Vanessa, granted she is being distracted by the sight of Chase placing his left dove tail to his right. Vanessa can only assume that this is so if things get messy, Chase will be able to fling open the compartment in his shoe and pull out his small knife.

"Our boss would like to speak with the 2 of you right away. Don't worry about the boy's parents."

Next Time: Segas

"Don't you dare udder the forbidden word Mr. Ortega."

Taft now has his right fist clenched and his left hand tightening around the trigger.

"My name's not Ortega isn't that right Grand Master Beach?"


	28. 28 Segas

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

Chapter 28-Segas

By Kevin Jones

A half day of rain has left New York City colder than normal. The rain has left the streets and buildings damp. The autumn colored leaves on the trees are weighed down by the water; there only movement being caused by a strong cold wind. All the cars and all the street lights cause a reflection along the damp buildings which intern is allowing the city to seem as if it is enveloped in light. All seems happy and innocent on the surface, but look beneath the surface and one will find just the opposite.

…

"Damn that Rhodes kid." A grey haired journalist with thick rimmed glasses is walking down an empty Brooklyn street.

"I found him his little drug addict and how does he repay me? By getting on his Duel Runner and leaving me in the god damn suburbs!" He suddenly stops and then looks up, in the direction of Satellite. "Well at least didn't leave me alone there, granted that's where people like Brown belong. Lucky for me, I don't need Rhodes to do my job."

Ortega then pulls a piece of paper out of his pocket. "I may not know who won today's matches but I know who was in them. Rhodes probably isn't in the mood to talk to me and since Rodriguez is his friend, I doubt he'll want to talk to me either. Which leaves me with 2, a high school kid who doesn't even seem to blink without Taft's approval and a friendly little boy who seems to have unusually good dueling skills; I think I smell a scoop."

Ortega laughs but stops as he starts to turn a corner. "Brooklyn Heights, a cultural diverse part of Brooklyn that has also become a hot spot for a lot German immigrants over the past 20 years."

He walks up to an old Brownstone. "More importantly, if my source is correct, this is the home of finalist Wilson Leonson."

Ortega walks up to the chipped paint door, enters and heads to the first apartment on the left. The paint on the door is a pale brown, like the walls around it, with a rusted 1 on it and an old fashioned eye hole on top of the 1.

He knocks hard and says, "Excuse me Ms. Leonson, my name is Ralph Ortega. I'm an investigative journalist and I was also a participant in the Kings Championship. I hope you don't mind but I would like to speak with your boy about his experience in this tournament, if that would be alright."

No response. Ortega checks his watch, 6 pm.

"Let's see, if he won his round, then his mother might have taken him out to dinner, to celebrate." He looks around to see if anyone is in the hallway. "According to my sources, most of the people who live in this part of town live poor so even if they are eating out I probably don't have to go much farther than the local McDonalds. But, just in case. "Ms. Leonson, are you there?"

"Wait, just a minute." Ortega is surprised by the response. But not just the fact that he received a response, but who the response came from.

"Wilson, is that you?" 

"Yup, sorry I didn't respond the first time. I'm going through my deck for tomorrow and I kind of got tuned out."

"Oh, no problem, I was just"- Ortega is interrupted by the sound of a lock clicking followed by another lock and another and another followed by the door opening.

"Hi Mr. Ortega, are you here to interview me?"

"That all depends, did you win today?"

"Yup, it was a tough match but I was able to beat Kai." 

"Really," Ortega is not hiding his shock. "So that means you'll go on to the finals. Which means you'll either face Charles or Chase."

"You mean I'm going to get to face Chase tomorrow!" Wilson lights up with excitement at the idea dueling Chase, he shows no sign that he even heard Charles' name.

"That's correct, granted I would like to know why you want to duel Chase Rhodes so much." Ortega looks around the small apartment. It's messy but not the same kind of messy as the apartment from this morning. This apartment is messy because its occupants are simply too busy to clean as opposed to just not caring. "Actually, before you answer that question, could you answer me why your home alone?"

"Oh," Wilson's smile leaves his face and he becomes quiet. "My mom has to work a double shift at the diner she works at during the day but she said that win or lose tomorrow, she's going to take me to the Olive Garden."

"The Olive Garden?"

"Yeah I know, I've never been to a place so fancy before but my mom said that with all the hard work I've done in this tournament, win or lose I earned a celebration dinner."

"A victory dinner at the Olive Garden," Ortega is still dumbfounded at the idea of someone seeing Olive Garden as Gourmet.

"It's in Manhattan and I bet my mom had to save a lot of money to afford it."

"You know what, never mind. Now why is it you want to duel Rhodes so much?" 

"Well, because he's a hero."

"A hero," now Ortega is confused. "What do you mean by 'he's a hero'?"

"Because he saved the entire world not once but twice…well I think the first time he just saved the city but still"-

"Wait, wait, wait, what do you mean by he saved the city… or the world… or whatever?"

"Don't you know?" 

"I haven't been in New York City in almost 20 years. Either way the boy's only 16, how could he possibly have saved anybody not once but twice?" 

"Well, do you remember hearing about those guys back in June who wanted to blow up Manhattan?"

"The Satellite Revenge Militia, of course I remember them. They claimed that they we're going to blow up City Hall because of the treatment by the city towards satellite citizens, but nothing ever happened."

"That's because Chase Rhodes stopped them." 

"Once again, how could a 16 year old kid stop a group of terrorists?"

"As the story goes, Chase Rhodes found about their plot and he also found out that the bomb detonator was programmed through the leaders Duel Runner. He then, single handedly, beat the leader in a duel, stopped all the other members and deactivated the bomb!" 

Ortega is in shock, not just at the story but at the way young boy is telling it. He makes Chase sound almost like a James Bond style action film hero. Ortega knows the story sounds farfetched but a part of him can't help but wonder if this explains why after the bomb threat, the SRM were never heard from again and why Rhodes appears to have the eyes of a wolf, an age old saying for someone who appears to have seen something rough.

"You also said that Rhodes saved the world. Do you know anything about that?"

"Well apparently and this only happened a few weeks ago, there was this group called Arcadia who was"-

"Wait did you just say Arcadia, as in Arcadia Movement?"

"Uh…actually I think they were called Arcadia Boarding School. Anyways, these Arcadia guys were planning on taking over the minds of every human being on the planet, even you and me."

"You expect me to believe that there was a group with the power to take over the entire world and they were stopped by a teenager."

"That's what the people from Segas said."

"Wait, did you just say Segas told you all this?"

"Yup, at the duel tournaments they host." 

"Now hold on a minute, are you telling me that Segas hosts Duel Tournaments?" 

"Yup, every week for the past year or so, at the rec center over by Abbey Court."

"How'd you find about these tournaments?" 

"Oh, they announced them at school a few weeks ago. I went to one and then I just kept going back." 

Ortega is confused, "How do these tournaments work?" 

"When you sign up, they put you on a list. When the duels begin, usually at around 5:30, you face your first opponent. You play a best 2 out of 3 and if you win you gain a point. Everybody duels 4 rounds no matter what but you only ever face people who have the same points as you."

"So, for instance, if I have 1 point, I'll only face someone with 1 point. Then after 4 rounds of this, the top 16 players duel each other in the same style as this tournament." 

Wilson nods.

"But that just sounds like a normal hobby league tournament. Why would Segas hold one of those, especially in this part of town?"

"So that way, those of us who can't afford rare cards can get their hands on a few." 

"Pardon?" 

"Hold on a sec," the young boy then jumps off the couch he is sitting on, sprints into the next room and comes back holding his deck. "Check this bad boy out."

The young boy reveals the bottom card of his deck.

"That, that's Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier, how on earth did you get your hands on a card like that?"

"Well, I don't like to brag, but it just so happens that I received that card as prize for winning a Segas Tournament a week ago."

"One of the rarest cards available and it was given to you in a hobby league tournament?"

"Oh yeah, and you should see some of the other cards kids have won. I've seen kids win cards like Naturia Barkion, Thermal Genex, Mist Wurm and lot's more."

"So, cards that duelists spend years looking for are currently in the hands of elementary school students. That's almost as crazy as the idea of someone making a fifth Blue-Eyes White Dragon."

"Fifth Blue-Eyes White Dragon?"

"Wait what…never mind. Now, who did you hear the stories about Rhodes from?"

"Different competitors, usually the older ones, like older than Chase but younger than you." Ortega lifts an eyebrow to that, "Oops, sorry about that."

"No, no it's alright. I'm actually older than I look." Now Wilson lifts an eyebrow. "How old do I look to you?"

"Uhm…40's…50's… I'm only 10, so I don't need to worry about being old for a long time." 

"I'll have you aware that I'm comfortably in my early 60's."

Wilson once again raises an eyebrow. "You don't look like you're in your 60's."

"Well thank you, but I am supposed to be in my 60's."

"What do you mean by supposed to be in your 60's?"

"I mean, even though I'm made to look like I'm in my late 40's, I'm actually in my 60's."

"Are you OK?"

"Why of course I'm OK, why wouldn't I be?" 

"Because you just said that you're made to look like you're in your 40's." 

"Well I… I." Ortega removes his glasses and starts rubbing his eyes. He is also starting to notice a growing headache.

"You know, if you're not feeling well, I can take you to Bill next door. I once saw this guy who looked like he was really out of it. Like he kept twitching and he was biting his nails but then, he went into Bill's apartment and when he came out he was just fine. Granted, he did have a prick on his arm, like when you get a shot at the doctor."

"No, no, I'm-fine, I'm fine, it's just been a long day. Now does anyone important like Judge Taft ever come to these tournaments?"

"I've never seen Taft there and I wouldn't know if anyone else like him has been there."

"Then who's running the tournaments?" Suddenly Ortega's head jolts to his right, he has no idea why.

"Usually just the rec center people. All though…there is this old guy, he doesn't duel or anything he just kind of watches, but he always leaves right before the tournaments end."

"Tiny, old, bold, wearing a leisure suit and his eyes almost look closed?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Well because…because…I don't know…I know but…I don't know."

Suddenly, Ortega leaps up and begins pacing around the room.

"Bathrooms next to the kitchen." 

"Oh no, oh no, I don't need to take a leak."

"Then why are you pacing?" 

"Because I'm me, no I'm not me," he is talking fast and pacing faster. "No I'm not me, I was me but now I'm not-no! I haven't been me for a long time, a very long time. Better yet, why am I feeling like this now, in 36 years, why am I feeling like this now?"

"Well, you are pretty old?" 

His gaze suddenly shifts towards the boy.

"Of course, you, during the introduction a few days ago, I was the first to show up. The other people eventually showed up as well but you were one of the last. When you entered the waiting room, I started to feel something, something very strange. I believed it to be the result of vending machine Calamari but for some reason it didn't go away. When I noticed that I was staring at you. I decided to introduce myself. That's when Rhodes and the other 2 showed and we both know where things went from there. You're making me feel this way, question is why!"

Ortega is now staring out the window at the busy street. He is no longer pacing nor is he moving at all.

"I should just stay where I am." Going against his better judgment, Wilson creeps over towards Ortega and touches his hand. Suddenly Ortega jumps almost a foot into the air. He then lands on his back and begins to convulse.

With no idea what to do, Wilson creeps back until his back is against the wall. He is shaking and his mouth is left wide open as he watches the man in his home shake like a fish out of water.

"G," begins Ortega. "G, g, g, g, ge, ge, ge…"

"I'm going to call an ambulance!"

As Wilson darts to the phone on the wall, he suddenly hears, "no need."

Wilson looks back towards Ortega who is now sitting up with a large, devilish smile across his face.

"Wh, what just happened?" 

As Ortega begins to stand, he says, "I suffer from what is called Epilepsies. Epilepsies cause my thinking to go haywire and results in me having what's called a seizure."

Wilson stays quiet.

"A seizure is what you just saw me have. I'm sorry for scaring you. I'm supposed to take medicine so none of that happens but with the day I've had I completely forgot to take it. I'm sorry for scaring you."

"It's OK… I guess."

"Now then, I must get home so I can take my medicine. In case I don't see you until then, good luck tomorrow." 

"Thank you, and good night."

With that, Ortega walks towards the door. He then opens it, walks out and shuts it behind him. He then walks out the building and goes across the street. He then begins to laugh.

"I didn't know I still had it in me to lie like that. Epilepsies, only other time I've ever even heard that word was on House."

He suddenly stops walking and looks behind him.

"Ah nothing," he continues walking. "Now to focus on the facts I just learned from the kid. Fact 1, New York City is still the same piece of shit it was when I was here back at the turn of the century, only difference is now, they put the lowest of the in there shit pile; good riddance I say.

Next fact, apparently Rhodes has stopped evil villains not once but twice. On the one hand, this sounds ridiculous, but then again, Segas chose Rhodes for a reason. I was in San Francisco during the SRM incident but like the rest of the country I remember it well. Several abandoned buildings get blown up and a bunch unidentified video messages were sent to the Rockefeller Center. According to these tapes, the Satellite Revenge Militia wanted the city to pay for creating the Satellite Sector. They claimed that they were going to blow up City Hall and half of Manhattan with it. Nothing ever happened but the City was in a panic equivalent to that of 9 11. If I'm correct no one ever die- no wait…now that I think about it, there was 1 fatality. Yes, there was 1 fatality. I don't remember the name but I do remember it was a young High School girl and for her death to gain national media coverage, she had to be someone important which means she probably went to Dewint Academy along with Rhodes.

What if, and this is a strong what if, this girl was someone close to Rhodes, probably a girlfriend. For one reason or another she found herself in the middle of the SRM's plans and lost her life for it. Considering how Rhodes is I'd imagine he's probably attracted to the adventurous type. When she died, Rhodes, considering how he got this morning after hearing 1 sob story, probably went after the Militia. That may also explain that scar on his neck. It's definitely some kind of a burn but I doubt a fire started on his neck. It's possible he was shot in the neck with a Shock Gun.

I can see it now, Rhodes found there explosives, was somehow able to deactivate them, he is smart after all, and before leaving they stunned him in the neck.

All that leaves left is him stopping the Arcadia Movement, or some branch of it. To figure that one out, I think I'll go to the source and if I'm correct, the Grand Master of Segas should be exactly where he was last time."

…

"I'd like to propose a toast to Chase for making it to the final round of the most screwed up Duel Tournament since Duelist Kingdom."

"Hey Mustang, aren't you forgetting a few people?"

"Oh, thanks for reminding me Havoc. I'd also like to propose a toast to Kai and Toni for also making it far in the tournament."

"You're still forgetting someone." 

"Oh yeah, actually I'm forgetting 2 people. I'd also like to thank Agent Fuery for his creative, albeit sometimes perverted; hiding spots for hidden camera's 360 degree, full detail, high definition, and clear sound have allowed for us to keep a clear eye on the whole tournament."

"And," this guy's really trying to get Mustang to throw him a bone.

"And finally a big thanks to Ms. Aaronson for finding the information on Alfred Ely Beach."

"Really," he's mad, "you're thanking Rhodes' girlfriend and not me!"

"For the last time, she's not my girlfriend!"

Now I'm angry. For those of you just tuning in, those guys from a few hours ago were not bad guys. In fact, I'm sitting across from them right now at a Chinese Buffet in lower Manhattan.

"Speaking of which," begins Kai, "where is Vanessa?"

"Sorry about missing the toasts. I had trouble finding the short ribs."

Sounds like Vanessa's- holy crap. Her entire plate is covered in food. Literally, it looks like she has a mountain of food, bigger than her head, on her plate.

"Chase," Kai's whispers to me, "does she eat that much normally?"

"I don't know, I don't eat lunch with her at school. Seriously, it looks like she got a little bit of everything on there."

"You'd think a girl like her would be watching her weight. I mean for most girls to get a body like hers they'd have to never eat but it looks like there's enough food there to make to make a bus of super models fat."

"I've heard of fast Metabolisms but where could she be putting it all?"

"Maybe it's got something to do with why her hair's so long. But"-

"Hey what are you guys whispering about?" Asks the Garbage Disposal

"Well," starts Toni, "I'd imagine the fact that you have a dinner for 4 on your plate might have something to do with it." 

"Hey, I have a big appetite and a lot of energy."

Toni responds with, "no, athletes have a lot of energy. Small children have a lot of energy. Hell, crack addicts have a lot of energy. You have a black hole where your stomach should be."

"Alright," says agent Hawkeye, "can we please get onto a more serious subject."

To put things into perspective, the uptight, serious, yet incredibly attractive, FBI Lady wants 4 teenagers and 6 FBI agents, 5 of which look like they're ready to turn in for the night, to be serious next to a table full of people in Hawaiian shirts.

"Hawkeye's right," says Vanessa after swallowing a big fork full of lo-mien. She stuffed such a large amount of food in her mouth; I'm surprised she didn't choke. "My first question is why did you guys go through all the trouble of scaring Chase, Charles and I if all you wanted to do was get us out of the hospital to bring us here?"

"A very good question," begins the fat agent. "Which is why I'd prefer it if Mustang answered instead of me."

He gestures Mustang who, as usual, seems happy to make he look clever.

"Simple really, this Charles kid has, or had, a know it all attitude."

Ain't that the truth.

"We needed to make sure he would stay out of our investigation."

Spend a little while around this guy and he'll never want to be around the FBI again.

"Or worse get the media involved."

Tomorrows Halloween, the only thing the media is interested in is what kind of diseases we can get from rented costumes.

"Because of this we decided to scare him so his ego would get deflated."

If you wanted to scare him and deflate his ego at same time then you should have had him and 3 black guys get naked and start comparing different physical aspects of each other to one another.

"Do you think it worked?"

"It worked," begins Vanessa, "but I still think that whole thing was cruel and unnecessary."

On the contrary, I loved watching the little moron wet himself. "Don't worry; we won't have to deal with him for a while."

"Good to know," starts Hawkeye, "as for you Chase, do you feel you're ready for tomorrow."

"Of course, all I have to do is beat Wilson and find out who the Grand Master is. I'll leave the rest up to you guys." 

"It's not so simple," says Hawkeye. "According to the video you guys were shown the other day, the Grand Master has strange powers." 

"The last evil villain had the ability to control people's minds and you were ok with me doing all the work then."

Vanessa suddenly stops eating. I should have figured bringing that up would make her feel uncomfortable seeing as she did have her mind controlled

"That's different," she says with worry in her voice. "We weren't shore on anything at that point. Here we know that we're dealing with something unnatural."

"Then why haven't you called a S.W.A.T Team?" Asks Kai, granted all 4 of us are thinking that same thought.

"Because," starts Mustang with an annoyed tone, "are unit is designed for dealing with cults and conspiracies. There for we're supposed to deal with issues discreetly. A S.W.A.T team wouldn't be very discreet now would it?"

"Then I guess the only thing for me to do is duel. If I win, I'll stop Segas for you and if I lose, well that's your problem."

"Then if that's the case," says the agent named Jean Havoc. "I should probably tell you about the kid's deck"-

"Not a chance!" Now I'm mad.

"But you were just saying that you got to beat the kid. So why shouldn't I tell you about his deck?"

"Because I am a duelist and there's no point in dueling an opponent if I know all his decks weak points."

Havoc responds with, "This isn't some grudge match on the playground. This is a genuine FBI sting operation that you're a part of. We need to take advantage of every resource we've got even the duel information from I, Kai and Toni's duels." 

"My lips are sealed," says Toni.

"Same here," says Kai.

"Both of you can't be saying that you're ok with Chase just running into this duel blind!"

When no one responds, he turns his head towards Vanessa.

"Don't look at me; I gave up reasoning with these guys a long time ago."

"Mustang, please tell me you can get a court order?"

Mustang is smiling, "for a bunch of kids to talk about card games, fat chance. Either way you wouldn't be able to say much anyways because you lost in 2 turns."

Now he looks embarrassed. "I got a bad opening hand. That's all there is to it."

"I get a bad opening hand all the time." Granted I don't like to brag much. "But I still figure out how to make it work."

"I need a cigarette."

"Oh please," says Hawkeye, "you only smoke to make yourself seem cool."

Seem, wait a second, "seem, that's it!"

"Chase," says a confused Mustang, "what are you talking about?"

"We got it wrong, not the part about Segas being evil or about this tournament serving a dark purpose. What we got wrong is them."

"Ok," starts Havoc, "what's spike head talking about?"

Kai responds with, "I'd keep quiet if I were you. Last time Chase started talking like this, he saved the whole world."

"As I was saying, why is it that no one has ever actually come forward about Segas and I'm not talking about stuff on the internet, I mean why hasn't one person in all these years actually said, I have evidence about Segas."

"Fear," says Mustang.

"There's always fear. The mob and the drug cartels use fear and people have still talked against them. Even government agents have come forward with revealing information about things such as JFK and Water Gate." 

"I'm just going to ignore that last part," says Mustang. "Even if what you're saying is true, that still doesn't explain the years of Segas activity nor what you meant by mind control."

"Segas consists of only a few people who have spent years controlling people minds for their own intent, by controlling the DA's office, there untouchable from the law but there still able to have influence over the city."

"Fine," says Mustang, "let's assume this crazy idea of yours is true, that a decade's old organization that has been linked to several high level incidents consists of only a few people with magic powers. Then why are they holding this tournament?"

"Like I said before, I'll have to win tomorrow to find out."

…

"Tomorrow is the day I die. I'm glad to know I can have such a delicious final dinner."

An old man is sitting at a table in a Manhattan pent house apartment. Across from him sits a blind folded man.

The 2 men are dressed in leisure suits with a table full of food in front of them, from bread made from rosemary, to 2 tender grilled Lamb Chops in front of the old man while a skewered Lobster sits under the blind folded man.

"In all do honesty my master, I still can't believe that by this time tomorrow, you will no longer be with me. After all the things you did for me, such as making me a judge."

"Yes, we've had some good times together, but I'm pushing 100. It's time for someone new to take on my powers and responsibility's. I'm just glad to know that it will be 1 of 2 very powerful young men."

"Granted, neither of us saw it coming that the 2 candidates would have about a 6 year age difference."

"That's fate; I assume you are preparing for your part tomorrow." 

"Oh yes sir, I am preparing for my"-

"Pizza delivery in the name of Taft." 

Taft reacts to the strange voice by jolting off his chair. "We didn't order a Pizza." He says this angrily.

"It says here," begins the voice with an unemotional tone, "that I'm to deliver our Blue-Eyes special to a guy named Taft, that'll be $11.21."

"Look, we didn't order a pizza, so"-

"You may come in," says the old man who is still sitting in a relaxed position.

"Master, I must protest"-

"You've always been so quick to judgment, good when you're a judge, not good when you're intentionally trying to fall into a trap."

"Sir"-

"You still carry that all semi-automatic from your days in the military on you, right?"

Taft opens his jacket to reveal a gun resting in a shoulder holster. "I was number 1 in blind shooting."

"Another reason why I made you my number 2 man, now keep that hidden and open the door."

Taft walks across the room to the door and opens it. Ortega then walks in with a large smile on his face. He no longer has his straight posture or his large round glasses. He is now hunched over and his eyes seem wild, almost as if something was seen that has left them forever tainted.

"I spoke with little Wilson before. He's a nice kid, granted his attitude isn't what you like about him. You like him because he has the ability to erase foreign evils from the body."

"Wait a minute, I know who you are!" On instinct Taft pulls the gun out of his pocket and points it at Ortega's head. All Ortega does in response is widening his smile.

"Now, now, there's no need for violence, I'm curious as to what are little journalist friend has to say. Now when you say foreign evils, you are referring to?" 

"Isn't it obvious, I'm referring to Ge"-

"Don't you dare udder the forbidden word Mr. Ortega."

Taft now has his right fist clenched and his left hand tightening around the trigger.

"My name's not Ortega isn't that right Grand Master Beach?"

In response the Grand Master begins to laugh so violently, the chair he's sitting on almost falls over. "Oh my, oh my, you've regained all your memories, haven't you Rare Hunter?"

"You bet, I remember how you tricked me, I remember how you played me and I remember how you had me tortured by what seemed like mindless zombies and I remember how you then altered my memories and turned me into an annoying journalist with grey hair."

"Just for the record, the hair wasn't my idea and the only reason I did any of that to you is because you stole from me. Now what is it you want from me?"

"Just a duel."

Taft responds with, "a duel?"

"Of course, I'd like to give the Grand Master the demonstration I was attempting to 30 years ago."

"Oh really, very well lets duel."

Rare Hunter

The 2 men are standing on opposite sides of the large living room.

"Since this is your demonstration, you may go first, Newman."

"So you remembered my name after all these years."

"I never forget a future pawn."

"Yes well, prepare for this pawn to tear you apart. I draw; next I set 1 monster and 1 card face down and end my turn."

Grand Master Beach

"My draw, I wonder what those set cards are. You're clearly not using your old deck." 

"Like I said, I'm showing you what I was supposed to show you."

"Well then, let's find out what you want to show me! I discard 1 card from my hand in order to special summon The Tricky (ATK: 2000/DEF: 1200)!

To the left stands a black and yellow jester with "?" on his chest and face. To the right stands an old man laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"I'm sorry, I'm just remembering the claim you made all those years ago. I think I'm ready to see if it's true! Now, Tricky attack his set monster!"

The Tricky fired a beam of rainbow colored energy at the image of a brown rectangle. The image explodes and is replaced by a white, egg shaped stone.

"Now for part 1 of my presentation, the set monster was The White Stone of Legend (ATK: 300/DEF: 250). When The White Stone of Legend is sent to the graveyard I can add 1 Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my deck to my hand!"

"Bull," says Taft, "the Blue-Eyes White Dragon is a legendary card released during the original launch of Industrial Illusions. Only 4 were produced, 3 of which are currently in the hands of Seto Kaiba. The fourth was ripped in half but the halves were taped together and are currently under the possession of Yugi Mutou. Both these men are living in Japan and all 4 cards are in their possession." 

"This brings me to the second part of my presentation."

"The world's greatest counter fit," says Beach. "All dies, paper texture, foils and even invisible security code are matched perfectly. When you first told me this, you didn't mention that you made a Blue-Eyes copy."

"I was hoping for shock and awe."

"Well it's definitely shocking. I will now end my turn. Let's see what you got."

Newman

"If you insist, my draw, next I play the spell card Ancient Rules! Now I can special summon 1 level 5 or higher Normal Monster from my hand and guess the one I'm going with."

"Moment of truth," says an excited Grand Master.

"Now I special summon, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500)!"

A bright light covers the field as an elegant blue beast enters the field. Its large wings are flapping while its claws are shining like sapphires. It's blue and white eyes are staring at the caped jester. It then let's out a loud roar that makes all those able to hear it, tremble.

"A perfect forgery, even on a current Duel Disk that makes the original seems like a calculator. You have truly out dun yourself but why do I have a feeling you're not just going to attack." 

"What gave it away?"

"You stole something from me, something very powerful, something forbidden. I can feel its power from here."

"Wait, wait, wait," begins Taft. "Sir you don't mean he"-

"You bet slick, I stole the most powerful and evil card in existence."

"Then play it and show me your true power."

"If you say so, I activate the continuous trap"-

"Don't you dare, don't you dare!"

"To late servant boy, I play the ultimate darkness, the great evil, the original nightmare, the shadow of humanity, the continuous trap, Geass!"

Next Time: Geass

"Chase make her stop right now. I know this sounds crazy but I think if you 2 continue she might not survive!" 

"Why's that?" As I look back at Vanessa, I notice her eyes are now open and there are glowing red circles around her green irises.


	29. 29 Geass

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

Chapter 29-Geass

By Kevin Jones

Newman

"If you insist, my draw, next I play the spell card Ancient Rules! Now I can special summon 1 level 5 or higher Normal Monster from my hand and guess the one I'm going with."

"Moment of truth," says an excited Grand Master.

"Now I special summon, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500)!"

A bright light covers the field as an elegant blue beast enters the field. Its large wings are flapping while its claws are shining like sapphires. It's blue and white eyes are staring at the caped jester. It then let's out a loud roar that makes all those able to hear it, tremble.

"A perfect forgery, even on a current Duel Disk that makes the original seems like a calculator. You have truly out dun yourself but why do I have a feeling you're not just going to attack."

"What gave it away?"

"You stole something from me, something very powerful, something forbidden. I can feel its power from here."

"Wait, wait, wait," begins Taft. "Sir you don't mean he"-

"You bet slick, I stole the most powerful and evil card in existence."

"Then play it and show me your true power."

"If you say so, I activate the continuous trap"-

"Don't you dare, don't you dare!"

"To late servant boy, I play the ultimate darkness, the great evil, the original nightmare, the shadow of humanity, the continuous trap, Geass!"

Suddenly, the blue dragon of legend is engulfed in a purple beam of energy and in less than a second, it is replaced by a dragon covered in royal blue and gold armor. On its gold chest peace is the symbol of Segas. The symbol, along with the non-armored parts of the body are glowing an ominous purple energy.

"So, not only did you steal one of my cards but you made one that can only work with my card."

"It may be your card but it was created by the Rare Hunters."

"Fair enough, but in order to control that card, you must have the power of Geass, otherwise it will consume you."

"Sir," begins Taft, "what exactly are you 2 talking about."

"It's a long story"-

"Oh no, you're not getting out of explaining yourself this time! Now tell your dog the truth!"

"Fine Mr. Pushy, when I first obtained the power of Geass I had trouble with it. Some days, it would work perfectly but more often than not it would either come out like a nuclear bomb or not come out at all. It was around this time, that an acquaintance of mine told me a rumor that the creator of the Duel Monsters card game, Maximillion Pegasus, also possessed strange powers and had created the game to increase that power. That's when it hit me, if this game truly was based on ancient rituals, and then it might be able to help me to. At the time, Pegasus was planning his Duelist Kingdom tournament so he wasn't interested. However it wasn't long after that I had found out about another group using cards to obtain power, the Rare Hunters."

"I'll take it from here," says an angry Newman. "After that he contacted us about producing him a card he needed. It wasn't fake Exodia pieces or anything like that. He wanted to design an original card. Our boss said it was fine with him so long as he brought his completed design and his check book. A few weeks later the card was complete. He then asked for some protection on for his trip from our base in Cairo back to New York. Once again, he signed a check and our boss was fine with this. Then when a month passed and our men didn't return, our boss ordered me to find out what happened to them. That was over 30 years ago." 

"Has it been that long? My how time flies, would you like to continue the story?"

"Not really, I'd rather get my revenge! First of all, my new monster, Blue-Eyes Geass Dragon (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500) can only be summoned via the effect of Geass, which is basically to banish a face-up monster I control for a Geass fusion monster of the same name from my extra deck. As long as Geass remains on the field, so does Blue-Eyes, at first this sounds simple except for the fact that Geass is not affected by non Geass cards. Which means even if you summon something like "Five-Headed Dragon," Blue-Eyes will survive, plus my monster still has an unstoppable effect. Once per turn, I can destroy all monsters my opponent controls, now Blue-Eyes, Genocide energy stream!"

The purple energy around Blue-Eyes suddenly begins to glow brighter and more violent, Blue-Eyes then roars and releases the energy in all directions. Though he cannot see, Taft is trembling in fear of what he can hear. This is a sharp contrast from Beach who is now smiling from ear to ear as his creature vanishes in the purple light.

"Oh my, oh my indeed, my friend you have created a creature beyond even my imagination!"

"Just wait for his attack, now Blue-Eyes, attack, evil energy stream!"

Taft suddenly jumps but Beach stops him by saying, "Easy there, I'm no beginner. I now remove from play the Necro Gardna I discarded last turn to negate your attack."

"So you survived my attack. I had a feeling that you're good. That's why I'm going to set 1 card face down and end my turn."

Beach

"Yes and you're not bad yourself, question is for how long?" 

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Don't tell me you're not feeling the strain. Like you said, Geass is a dark power and when I made the card, I made it that it can only be used by someone with Geass. Since you don't have Geass, the card will begin to drain you of all your strength until it kills you."

"I'll defeat you long before that happens."

"We'll see about that, I draw. Next I play Different Dimensions Capsule, with this card I can select 1 card in my deck and add to my hand in 2 turns. Now since 2 turns is a long time from now, I think I'll just set a monster and end my turn."

Newman

"That was anti-climactic; there isn't a single card in your deck that can stop the power of Geass."

"I know, don't forget that Geass is my power. You just chose to take it away from me."

"I took, I took"- Newman is now mad. "Fine then Taft, you want to know what this guy did. When I found Grandpa here in New York, I found something else, the dead bodies of the men who were ordered to protect to him!"

With a smile on his face, Beach says, "They may not have protected me, but they still served a purpose." 

"I'll show you something that serves a purpose! I activate the effect of Blue-Eyes Geass Dragon; now watch as your monster is destroyed!"

As the blast of energy fills the room, a black aura begins to cover Beach.

"Sorry, but the monster you just destroyed was Trick Ghost, and when Trick Ghost is destroyed by either battle or a card effect, I take no battle damage for the remainder of the turn and I can and I can select 1 Tricky monster from my graveyard and add it to my hand." 

"Which I assume means that you're going to add The Tricky from last turn to your hand." 

"Of course, and I assume your now going to end your turn."

"Not before I set 1 card face down."

Beach

"Good, now I draw a card and in one turn, I get another." 

"Let's see if you make it to your next turn." 

"Oh we will, because next I discard a card in order to special summon The Tricky (ATK: 2000/DEF: 1200). Next I play the equip spell, Trick Wand! This beautiful gold staff with a question mark on the top does more than just give my monster some bling; it also increases his ATK power by 1000!" (2000-3000)

"Are you planning on a draw?"

"Not exactly, because the card I just discarded was another Trick Wand and when I have a Trick Wand on the field and 1 in the graveyard, I can remove from play the one in the graveyard to have my monster gain another 1000 ATK points!" (3000-4000)

"The advantage of discarding cards is when you discard something that can be used in the graveyard," says Taft.

"Indeed, now Tricky, destroy his oversized night light!"

The Tricky jumps into the air and fires a beam of colorful energy at Blue-Eyes but this only makes Newman smile.

"As good as discarding strategically good cards can be nothing beats a good set card. I play Magic Cylinder, which negates your attack and hits you with damage equal to your monsters ATK points!" 

"And the best cards are those that activate from the hand! I play the equip spell, Quick Dimension Escape! Now I can banish my face up Tricky until the end of the turn!"

"This saves you from my trap."

"Bingo, and when he comes back at the end of the turn, he can't be destroyed by battle or card effects but his ATK and DEF points will be reduced to 0." 

The Tricky has now returned to the field in defense mode and Beach doesn't show a single sign of fear.

Newman

"My draw," Newman is now smiling, "I may not be able to remove your monster from the field but I can still wipe you out!"

"Oh and how's that?"

"Just watch, because I play the field spell Ancient Forest!"

Suddenly, the lavish living room is replaced with a bright calm forest. At the same time, The Tricky is no longer on one knee but is standing straight up.

"Oh, I've heard of this card. Now all monsters remain in attack position and if a monster attacks it's destroyed."

"Bingo, that being said, the only way to destroy a Geass Monster is to remove from the field the Geass trap card. Since that isn't happening, how's about I go ahead and wipe out more than half your life points, evil energy stream!"

Once again, a large blast of purple energy fires from the mouth of the giant Dragon. Only this time, the blast sends The Tricky into one tree and then another and another. (4000-1000)

"So, you were finally able to inflict damage to me."

"Meanwhile, I still have all 4000 of my life points. I think I'll give you your final turn now."

Beach

In a mocking tone, Beach says "Thank you for giving an old man one last chance to save his life. My draw," now Beach is getting serious. "Next I get the card I selected with Different Dimensions Capsule." 

"Aren't you going to tell me the name of the card?"

"Nope, I think I'll just set 1 cards face down and end my turn."

Newman

"Now that's a boring way to die. My draw," Newman looks down at the card he has drawn, and then again at the 2 face downs on Beach's field.

"Are you scared of my face down card or are you starting to feel the strain of Geass?" 

"Neither," Newman is lying on both accounts. "I play the spell card Heavy Storm! This card destroys all spell and trap cards on the field!"

A giant twister has engulfed the field. This storm has ripped out all the trees and has returned the 2 men, the dragon and the jester back to the living room.

"Hey did someone leave a window open," asks Taft. "I think I hear a draft."

"Not exactly my blind folded friend but in response to Heavy Storm I think I'll activate my set card." 

"Like anything you play can save you now!"

"Not exactly, I play"-

…

"This is a really dumb idea."

Right now, I am sitting on Vanessa's couch while she sits on the recliner. After my realization about Segas, I decided that if Segas could manipulate people's minds then there might be a way to reverse the effects. I didn't tell the others this because I already had a plan on how to reverse Vanessa's memories.

"Do you want to help or not?"

Instead of responding, Vanessa merely rolls her eyes and leans back in the red chair.

"Right, now I'm going to go take piss, while I'm gone try to relax."

"Sure," she says mockingly, "because it's really easy to relax when I know in 5 minutes you're going to turn me into your mind controlled slave."

I ignore this and walk into the bathroom.

"O.K. Clayman tell me what I have to do."

Suddenly, Clayman materializes in front of me.

"Just so you know I only learned this as a party trick."

Now I'm confused, "Duel Spirits party?"

"Everything parties and either way why don't you just tell Vanessa about me, once she believes that you have us spirits around you, she'll probably be more likely to cooperate."

"That or she'll freak out and make me leave or she'll think I'm crazy and not take me seriously or she'll think I'm messing with her in which case she won't take me seriously."

"Or she'll believe you."

"Let's cross that bridge when I'm not trying to stop an evil psychic, O.K."

"Humph… fine, just remember to keep a soothing, calm tone and repeat everything I say, exactly the way I say it."

I nod and flush the toilet. I didn't have to piss but the last thing I need is Vanessa to get distracted on a detail question.

"O.K., I'm back."

"You didn't wash your hands." See what I mean.

"I don't need to touch you so can we just get this over with." 

Before she has a chance to make another smart remark, I sit back down on the couch and position myself so that her eyes are directly looking into mine.

"Now then," begins Clayman, "let's begin."

For the sake of time, I'm only going to say things once.

"Vanessa, lean back, and close your eyes." Vanessa rolls her eyes but she does as she's told. "Now banish all irrelevant thoughts from your mind. The only things in this whole world that matter are the drops of rain that are starting to fall, the cool breeze coming through the window, and the flow of your breathing."

Vanessa is now perfectly still, almost like she really has wiped her mind clean, it's a little weird to look at.

"Now then," continues Clayman, "I want you to concentrate on something else. I want you to concentrate the beating of your heart. Try to steady your heart rate so it is as graceful as the falling rain or as soothing as the breeze."

I think this is actually working, considering she thought this was all crap about 5 minutes ago. Honestly, I'm even starting to feel a little weird.

"Now Vanessa, think back to a few days ago. Remember the day I pulled the joke of being a priest. Remember how you believed I tried to touch you and what it brought on… now tell me what you see."

"I, I see," she sounds almost like she's asleep, "I see you in that costume trying to touch my breasts."

"No, you know I would never lay a finger on you. That day, a man put subliminal instructions in your head. The memory of me trying to touch you was your brains way of saying that something evil was happening. Look past the man's tricks and try to see what really happened."

Suddenly Vanessa's tenses up and she is now digging her nails into the arms of the recliner.

"I… I… see a man, not you but a different man, someone… someone with… with"-

"Go on," I say, "keep trying, you're getting it."

Her eyes are tightening and she is now shaking her head so hard I can hear her hair whip against the sides of the chair.

"Chase make her stop right now. I know this sounds crazy but I think if you 2 continue she might not survive!"

"Why's that?" As I look back at Vanessa, I notice her eyes are now open and there are glowing red circles around her green irises.

"Clayman," now I'm beginning to worry, "what's going on."

"Chase, I don't think she was in a trance or at least not ours."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I think there's something evil going on right now. Whatever it is, it involves the power that controlled Vanessa.

…

"So, there are 2 of them."

"Actually, including yours, there are 3 copies of the card Geass. I have 2 and you have 1. Not to mention dozens of Geass monsters that I've had made over the years."

"Let me guess, you're about to summon the corrupted version of The Tricky."

"Not exactly, you see Geass has a another side effect. Whenever I use it, all those who I have used the power on enter… sort of an unconscious state, don't ask me why. They enter this state even if they are a thousand miles and when they enter this state, there completely under my control and will do exactly as I say."

Newman turns his head towards Taft only to see that Taft is frozen in place. Horrified, Newman then turns back to Beach whose right eye now has the bird shaped logo of Segas.

"Wait, but, but I was controlled by your Geass."

"I know I wanted to see you realize this fact and now that you have, well I just have no use for you anymore."

With that Newman's arms drop to his sides and he now has glowing red circles around his irises.

"Now then, since you have no free will, I think I'll just say that I win."

Winner: Beach Loser: Newman

All the holograms disappear as Beach walks up towards the frozen Newman.

"Mr. Newman, or as I prefer to call you Ralph Ortega, decades ago I used a bunch of Rare Hunters to test my new card on. Unfortunately for me, none of these men survived long enough for me to finish my tests. Luckily for me, you showed up. You were smart enough to find me in this huge city and as well as clever enough to steal a copy of Geass to show your boss what it could do, so I decided to use you for a better test. I altered your entire life and turned you into Ralph Ortega, investigative journalist. For years I used you to keep tabs on the events of this world as well as accomplish tasks I couldn't. I figured that since I'll be dead tomorrow night, that I should take you with me. But now my friend, I think I have one last task for you.

Next time: The Hero and the fairy tail

"Now then," says Taft, "let the final duel of the King's Championship begin!"


	30. 30 The HERO and the fairy tale

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

Chapter 30- The Hero and the fairy tail

By Kevin Jones

With a toss, a turn, and a small groan, Vanessa slowly begins to wake up. Her eyes lids are opening slowly as she begins to scratch the top of heard. She then sits up; rubs her eyes and begins to slowly scan her living room. She does this for another few seconds before she pauses at an unusual sight in her kitchen.

"Chase what are you doing?"

"Making breakfast," before anyone jumps to any conclusions, I've been here all night. Oh wait… not like that either. After Vanessa became, for lack of a better term, possessed, I decided the only thing I could do was watch her. Thing is, she only remained in that state for about a minute before she passed out on the couch.

"Why are you making break- you know what, before you answer that, tell me what happened last night. The last thing I remember was you saying your little voodoo spell."

"You passed out on the couch and you've been out like a rock ever since." It sounds like she doesn't remember anything she said while under the trance. Clayman didn't think she would, so all we did next was check her pulse, opened one of her eye lids to see if her eyes were back to normal and plop a seat and wait for her to wake up. I then fell asleep a little later and when I woke up, Clayman was gone, Sleeping Beauty was drooling and I was hungry.

"So why are you making breakfast?"

"Because I'm hungry and I assumed you would be to."

"Wait so you didn't go home last night?"

I don't answer.

Vanessa is now standing up and examining her clothes. "All my clothes look intact so I know you didn't do anything perverted which means that you stayed here because you we're worried about me."

"Actually it's because you were used as a pawn of Segas and since this is there big day, keeping an eye on you might give me an idea of their plan."

What was a smirk has now been replaced with a blank stare. "O.K. then, so… what are you making?"

"Omelette au fromage, I figured it would be more filling than Cocoa Puffs."

"O.K. then, so… what are you making?"

I roll my eyes, "a cheese omelet."

"Oh that sounds good- wait a minute since when do you cook, or speak French?"

"Since before I've known you. Hey could you turn on the T.V. I'd like to see if there's any more rain planned for today."

"Sure," Vanessa then turns on the T.V. and begins flipping through channels.

Meanwhile, as I cook breakfast, I scan the kitchen. According to Clayman, once I fall asleep he returns to my deck and either Debris Dragon or another card in my deck should pop up to come help me. I've been up about an hour and I haven't seen anything.

"Oh my god," I look up to see that Vanessa is frozen solid and staring at the T.V.

"What's wrong, did the Mets lose again?"

"Chase, that Ortega guy had white hair and glasses right?"

"Yeah… oh crap did he actually get a news network that would take him seriously?"

"No… not exactly." 

"What do you mean not exactly?"

"You're going to want to take a look at this."

With that, I turn the burner off and walk into the living room. "What the, what the hell?"

"That's right Tom, the police have confirmed that the man who was somehow able to get over the guard rail on the observation deck of the New Empire State Building and jump to his death at around 6 a.m. this morning was investigative journalist and Queens's resident, Ralph Ortega. Now at this time nothing else is known about Mr. Ortega but as this story unfolds we will be there to keep all our viewers informed. From the Neo Empire State Building, I'm Tina Rivera, Fox News."

The only noise in the room now is coming from the T.V. Both me and Vanessa are too shocked to even understand the news, it all just kind of sounds like white noise to me.

"Did he… did he seem suicidal? I mean, I know you only knew him for a few days but at any point did something seem off about him?"

"He was a nosey, creepy; know it all who was obsessed with chasing down a half ass cult, of course he seemed weird but this was not suicide."

"What makes you thing that?"

"Ortega thought of himself as a super sleuth. He was convinced he was on the verge of discovering all of Segas' secrets. Even if he had any form of depression, there's no way he would go to his grave knowing he was one step from securing his name in history." 

"Wait…so, do you think Segas killed him?"

"Yup, at some point yesterday he found something out that they didn't want him to know. They decided to kill him and turn it into a message for all of us."

I switch my gaze from the TV to Vanessa who appears to be in deep thought. She then says, "Segas wants you, me, Kai, Toni and the whole FBI to know that if we don't do things the way they want us to, then they'll do to us what they did to Ortega."

…

"So, Segas likes to do more than just move the city forward."

It's about 11:39 in the morning. Toni, the one who just stated the obvious, and Kai showed up a few minutes ago. Naturally, we've informed them of the mornings…well, events.

"Did you try calling the FBI?" While saying this Kai is glancing back and forth from us to the door, after all it's almost noon which means the last Segas riddle is about to appear.

"I tried but apparently Mustang didn't inform anyone important about us."

"Well," begins Kai, "either they know about Ortega and are assessing the situation or they don't know about Ortega in which case there preparing for later."

"True," begins Vanessa, "but if Segas really is willing to kill anyone who gets in there way and they have the means to do it efficiently, then that could mean that there prepared to take out the FBI if they interfere."

"And if that's the case, then the FBI will just be fish in a barrel." Upon saying this, Kai takes a deep breath and pulls a cell phone out of his left pocket.

"Wait," says Toni, "who are you calling at a time like this?" 

"Mustang, I'll call his personal number so he knows it's urgent."

"Time out," says a shocked Vanessa, "how and why do you have Mustang's personal cell number."

"He gave it to me a few days ago in case things get too crazy. If a dead journalist really means what we all think it means, then now we can say things are going crazy."

"Hold on a minute," I'm confused, "why would Mustang entrust you with judging when a situation is going to hell in a hand basket?"

Kai then takes his eyes off his phone and is now looking at us. "He gave it to me for 4 reasons." He is now pointing to himself with his thumb. "First of all I'm the oldest." He is now pointing at Toni. "Second, you're a conspiracy theorist with a history of violence." He turns to me. "You're clearly emotionally disturbed and a narcissist." Fair enough and now it looks like its Vanessa's turn. "You're only 15."

"Hey," says an annoyed Toni, "why is her reason only about age?" 

"Because"- suddenly we here a knock at the door, "do we even need to wonder who or what is behind that door."

We all walk towards the front door and I open it. On the floor is a sealed envelope.

"Chase, how do they know you're here," asks a concerned Vanessa.

"Beats me, hopefully after today we never have to worry about these wackos ever again."

With the envelope open, we all begin to look at the riddle which reads:

From Russia with Love

[3/1/1][3/2/16][3/3/2][4/1/1][4/2/21][4/3/10][4/4/2][4/5/2][5/1/8][5/4/11][5/5/5][5/6/13][6/2/25][6/3/17][6/3/8][6/3/12][7/5/6][7/6/15] [8/1/2][8/2/7][8/3/4][8/4/19] [9/1/5][9/2/4] [10/1/8][10/2/12][10/3/5] [11/1/27][11/3/29][11/4/9][11/5/4], _ [12/1/17][12/2/5] [13/1/25][13/2/22][13/3/29][13/4/8][13/5/1]

OK, now I'm sure these people are making stuff up. "Do any of you know what these numbers mean?"

"They could be coordinates," says a perplexed Toni. "You know, like longitudes and latitudes."

"No," starts Kai, "I'm thinking there dates. My guess is we have to find out what happened on these dates and they'll lead us to the final duel."

"That could take hours," seriously look at all these dates, "and what does From Russia with Love mean?"

"Well," starts Vanessa, "From Russia with Love is a James- Bond… novel, that's it!"

Suddenly, Vanessa grabs the clue out of my hands and begins to sprint back into the apartment and then into her room.

"OK," starts a confused Kai, "Does anyone but me think that she has an idea?"

The 3 of us walk back into the apartment and close the door behind us. I prepare to walk towards the room and… oh shit.

"You guys should probably come over here because it looks like the Professor is up to something."

It's Elemental HERO Stratos, for those of you who don't remember, he's the one, during that inclaim thing, who said that I still missed- you know what never mind. All you need to know is that he's leaning against the wall next to Vanessa's bedroom with his wings holstered.

The 3 of us walk to the room and look in. It looks like Vanessa is now sitting on her bed looking at a book and… is she writing on the clue sheet?

"Vanessa," begins Toni, "what are you doing?"

"I figured out the clue, these numbers aren't dates. The whole thing is an Ottendorf cipher."

"Wait, wait, wait, what are these magic numbers?"

"Give her a minute to explain Chase," says an annoying Stratos.

"There not magic numbers," she seems confident about this fact. "The whole thing is one big Ottendorf Cipher. You see, From Russia with Love is a book. The way an Ottendorf Cipher works is that the 3 numbers in each set of brackets corresponds to a specific letter on a page."

We're all still silent and I still think there magic numbers.

"Basically, the first number indicates the page we need. The next number is the line on the page and the third number is letter on that line. Are you guys following me on this? So basically the first letter of the first word of the clue is…T, followed by…h… and then e. Once this cipher is complete, we'll know exactly where the last duel is."

And we'll also be walking right into Segas' hands.

…

When Vanessa finished decoding the riddle it read: The final Duel will be held at the BOAT, 42nd street. Only where the 42 is, there was a blank line. For this part of the clue, we, like all great Americans, turned to cheesy old movies that randomly show up on all the random HBO channels at 2 in the morning. According to Kai, the blank line indicated a street here in Manhattan. We then came up with the idea that the reason the clue came almost 20 minutes early then every other clue is because the time is part of the clue. The exact time the clue came was at 11: 42, huge surprise, something big is happening on 42nd street.

Vanessa is now saying, "so where's the Bank of America Tower?"

That was last part of the clue. Obviously there's no boat on 42nd street, at least not before the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, so we figured BOAT was an acronym. Toni then realized that this most likely meant Bank of America Tower, which brings us to right now at 1 in the afternoon.

"Over there," the BOAT is 1,200 feet high with a 255.5 foot high spire on top. The whole building looks like it's made out of glass and the top of the tower is slanted. It's one of the few buildings to not contain a Tops level, granted there is a transportation road that runs alongside it.

As the 4 of us walk towards the building, I begin to scan around looking for signs that Mustang and his men are here. I don't know what they could do to help but it's better to know where they are for when things go horribly. I've seen the Dark Knight Rises, I know when things get intense, things go wrong.

"Chase," begins Stratos, "look over there, things are about to get serious."

I look to my right to see Judge Taft sitting on a bench next to the building. He appears to be staring intently at a Hot Dog cart across the street.

"Well here goes nothing," I say as we all walk towards Taft.

"So, all 4 of you came." Taft says this without taking his gaze off the Hot Dog Cart.

"Friends stick together," announces Vanessa. Actually, I told them all to stay at Vanessa's place but since they knew where I was going it was hard to lose them when they started following me.

"3 more people viewing the duel won't be a problem, seeing as originally the only viewers were to be myself and my master and before you all find comfort in the idea that your FBI buddies will be there to save you all if things go wrong, think otherwise."

"Mind if I ask why?" As Kai asks this, he is quickly scanning the area for signs of someone or something less than friendly.

"Because, we've taken precautions to make sure all 6 of the FBI agents located in this area never make it to the duel site.

Upon hearing this, we all tense up and quickly begin to frantically look around for signs of anything off.

"Calm down, calm down, I don't mean like that. I simply mean that there's only 1 way to reach the arena and Mr. Hot Dog man over there doesn't know the way."

On instinct, we all look towards the Hot Dog guy across the street. What the, wait a minute…Mustang's the Hot Dog Guy?

"The same goes for that lady sitting I n the coffee shop and the man sitting on the park bench reading a newspaper."

We all begin to look around the area and now that we know what we're looking for, the 4 of us can easily make out agent Hawkeye sitting in the coffee shop, pretending not to be paying attention to us. I can also see agent Havoc sitting on the bench across the street pretending to be reading a newspaper, granted I didn't even know they still made newspapers.

"I bet after the 4 of you deciphered todays riddle, you all thought it would be really smart to give a heads up to your FBI buddies. Thing is, we also thought that was a good idea so we decided to make the location of the duel impossible to be reached by normal means."

"Fine," we may or may not be screwed, "let's stop talking and start dueling."

In response to my ballsy, somewhat stupid but still ballsy, statement Taft gets up off the bench and puts a sinister smile on his mustache face.

"Look in the ally to your left."

We all do as were told and turn our heads towards the left side of the building. In the ally it looks kind of like there's a… a long but narrow platform. The kind you see window cleaners use to clean the sides of skyscrapers.

"You're not serious," says Toni, "there is no way all 5 of us are going to fit on that."

"Oh it's long enough and it can support up to 2000 pounds. By the way Ms. Sorentino, what did I say about wherein a skirt when in my presence."

"Who cares about my pants right now, you want us to stand on a thin sheet of metal that's going to lead to nowhere!"

"Oh I wouldn't say that." Upon saying that, Taft pulls a cell phone out of his pocket. On the screen it shows- what the hell.

"Is that," starts a shocked Vanessa, "Wilson standing on the roof of the tower?"

"Well, you're half right. You see, we've placed a large glass platform on top of the tower. It's the perfect site for your duel. The platform is basically invisible to any one more than a few feet away. Plus it's in such a crowded area that it would be almost impossible to get a helicopter near the site without starting a panic. Plus if you choose not to go to the duel." At that moment, Taft pushes a button on the phone which zooms onto a small black box that is screwed under the middle of the platform.

"Don't tell me," I say, "a bomb."

"You bet, now to the duel."

We all look nervous but we follow Taft to the platform and walk on. We all fit, barely. Kai's at one end, followed by Vanessa, Toni, me and Taft, Taft is now pushing a button that is causing the platform to go up like an elevator.

"Hey," starts Kai, "How were you guys able to put a giant glass platform on top of a well-known building in the middle of Manhattan?"

"It's easy when it's 2 in the morning and you have a service road next to the tower. The whole thing folds together for transport, plus the one end is designed to fit perfectly on to the side of the building. Plus the legs have slots in them that go around the lower corner of the tower."

"Who designed this," asks Vanessa, "Isn't this a bit much for a card game?"

"Ms. Aaronson, I don't think you understand the gravity of the situation. Whoever wins this duel will be in charge of the greatest group in this world's history."

"You can cut the crap Taft, I already figured out that this, so called "group" just consists of you, your boss and maybe a third person but that's it. This whole tournament is a scam for you to accomplish you and your group's evil plan."

"Is that what you think, I assure you boy your wrong. This is a major organization that is just trying to secure a steady growth of humanity."

"Then why are your 2 best candidates for this position under 18?" 

"I'll let my master explain all that to you if you win."

…

It's cold up here. It's cold, windy and not even a knife could cut through the tension. Wilson is standing on the side of the platform where the top of the building is. This is also the side the metal platform is on but Wilson has yet to turn around towards us. In fact he isn't moving; it looks like all he's doing is staring into space. I can't even imagine how long he's been standing up here or better yet how he solved the clue. It took all 4 of us to solve the clue and it still came down to the fact that Vanessa had a random book. Come to think of it, how was Taft able to convince this kid to come on to this thing?

"Well Mr. Rhodes, are you going."

"How's about you go onto the giant piece of glass and walk to the edge." 

"Now why I would do that, it's not like it's my duel?"

"So in other words, you're all going to stay on the steady metal platform, while I go on flimsy, cracking, thin glass."

"I think you underestimate us."

Hey what the hell! He just pushed me off the platform! "Ow!"

"It may hurt but it's still stable."

As much as I hate to admit it, Taft is right. When I hit the glass I didn't hear the glass make a single noise. I'm now trying to stand up, granted this is the definition of nerve racking.

"Hey Wilson, you ready to throw down?"

No answer, he's still just staring into space.

"Tick tock, tick tock, you 2 don't have all day."

I look back at Taft, granted I know saying anything is pointless. "Here we go."

I walk to the opposite end of the platform and turn on my duel disk. "All right Taft, you want a show, I'll give you a show!

Wilson

"It's my draw," Says Wilson with no emotion, "I summon Forest Wolf (ATK: 1800/DEF: 300) in attack mode and that's it for me!"

Chase

"A wolf dressed like a Grandma… so that means you're playing the fairy tale deck. I don't know a whole lot about it, but I do know the last guy who used that deck loved fairy tales so I guess that means you do to." 

Still no response.

"OK then, well I always preferred Super Hero's to magic wolves! I play Polymerization, this card lets me fuse the Elemental HERO Avian and the Elemental HERO Burstinatrix in my hand in order to fusion summon, Elemental HERO Phoenix Enforcer (ATK: 2100/DEF: 1200)! Now Phoenix Enforcer, attack Forest Wolf, Phoenix Claw! (4000-3700) So you don't feel cold or flinch, weird. Either way I end my turn."

Wilson

"I set 1 monster face down and end my turn!"

Chase

"My draw," I got to end this duel quickly so we can get off this building and find the Grand Master. "I summon Elemental HERO Lady Heat (ATK: 1300/DEF: 1000) in attack mode! Now Lady Heat, take down Little Red Riding Hood!"

Lady Heat jumps high into the air and lands on the set card, destroying it and revealing a little girl with a red hood.

"How did you know his set monster?" Taft now seems tense, maybe because he knows I'm right about him.

"Of what little I know about the deck I do know about that card. I also know that now he gets to summon a level 4 monster to the field."

"I summon Forest Huntsman (ATK: 1200/DEF: 800) in attack mode!"

OK, that card I never heard of. I've heard of Forest Hunter and I know that cards dangerous.

"Now I activate Forest Huntsman's special ability! When he's summoned, I can banish 1 face-up Warrior or Spellcaster on your side of the field!"

An arrow has just struck Phoenix Enforcer in the chest, making him fade out of site. "With that I end my turn, which means Lady Heat hits you with 200 points of direct damage!" (3700-3500)

Wilson

"I draw and summon Iron Hans (ATK: 1200/DEF: 800) in attack mode and since I summoned Iron Hans I can special summon Iron Knight in attack mode as well (ATK: 1700/DEF: 700). Next, due to Iron Knights effect he loses 1000 ATK points because Iron Hans is on the field!" (1700-700)

"Chase," Stratos is now next to me. "Look carefully at Wilson's eyes. I just figured out whys he's acting so strange."

"Wait, you're not saying"-

"Oh yes I am. He has red circles around his eyes."

Next time: The unstoppable Trishula

"Now I Banish Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier in order to summon the most powerful evil on the face of the earth!"


	31. 31 The Unstoppable Trishula

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

Chapter 31- The unstoppable Trishula

By Kevin Jones

Wilson

"I draw and summon Iron Hans (ATK: 1200/DEF: 800) in attack mode and since I summoned Iron Hans I can special summon Iron Knight in attack mode as well (ATK: 1700/DEF: 700). Next, due to Iron Knights effect he loses 1000 ATK points because Iron Hans is on the field!" (1700-700)

"Chase," Stratos is now next to me. "Look carefully at Wilson's eyes. I just figured out whys he's acting so strange."

"Wait, you're not saying"-

"Oh yes I am. He has red circles around his eyes."

Now I'm mad, I'm also confused but mostly mad. "Taft, what did you bastards do to this kid!?"

Taft is putting on a confused face. "What are you talking about? Also, I'd prefer you not curse in my presence."

"Save it, I can tell just by being around him that the weird power you guys have is controlling him."

"OK then," starts Kai, "I don't feel comfortable standing on the platform next to the evil wizard. Kai has now hopped off the metal platform and is now standing on the glass one.

"Same," as Toni says this, both her and Vanessa jump on to the glass and are dashing towards Kai who is now standing in between me and Wilson.

"Yup," starts Kai, "he's got the red circles around his eyes like that red neck did."

"This duel should be stopped!" As Vanessa says this, she is gripping her fists and seems angry. "Wilson, listen to me, you don't have to do this!"

"First of all, if, and that's a big if, my master chose to use his powers on Mr. Leonson, I'm sure he had a good reason. As for this duel, it will continue, Mr. Rhodes and Mr. Leonson will continue to face off with all their strength or I will blow us all to smithereens."

Kai responds with, "If that happens then you'll die to."

"My life is irrelevant when compared to our organization. If I must die, then so be it. That being said, I'd prefer not to die and I'm sure none of you wish to lose your young lives this afternoon. So let the duel continue."

"I play the spell card, Iron Cage! Now I can send Iron Hans to the graveyard until my next standby phase!"

"Wait," starts Vanessa, "why would he destroy his own monster?"

"Because," starts Toni, "he may lose a monster but Iron Knight now gets his attack power back." (700-1700)

"Now, Iron Knight, attack his Lady Heat with iron sword slash!" A knight in black armor just slashed a blond woman in white; I think this scene is in the bible. (4000-3600)

"Now, Forest Huntsman, attack him directly!"

Apparently I just took an arrow to the gut from a guy who likes the bears he would have hunted. (3600-2400)

Chase

"Since you've gone quiet then I assume it's my move so I draw! Next I summon Elemental HERO Wildheart (ATK: 1500/DEF: 1600)! Now Wildheart, show his Huntsman who the real master of the forest is!" Giant, muscular, Native American guy with a big as sword vs. a big hairy guy with a bow and arrow, Native American wins." (3500-3200)

"Next, I think I'll throw down a face down and call it a turn!"

Wilson

"My draw, now the effect of Iron Cage ends and I can special summon Iron Hans from the graveyard and I get to use Iron Hans effect once again."

"So that means he gets another Iron Knight?"

"Bingo Vanessa," as Kai says this he gulps, "but I doubt that's where his strategy ends."

"Next I play the spell card, Spinning wheel Spindle! Now your Wildheart is banished for the next 3 turns!"

"Wait," starts Toni, "why did a needle with string on it just stab Wildheart in the arm and why did it knock him unconscious?" 

"No," snaps Vanessa, "there is no way you've never heard of Sleeping Beauty! If nothing else it's a Disney Princess movie!"

"Oh I've never seen a Disney Princess movie before. My Dad says there made to brain wash girls into believing there supposed to spend their lives permanently dependent on a man."

OK, now everyone on this roof, minus Wilson, is staring at Toni.

"You know what Toni," says a shocked Kai, "now it's all starting to come clear."

"Now, Iron Hans, attack him directly, iron axe!"

"Sorry kid but I play the trap card Scrap Iron Scarecrow! Now, Captain Fuzz ball gets his attack negated, plus I can now reset my scarecrow for next turn!"

"That maybe so, but I still have 2 attacks left! Now both my Iron Knights, attack him directly!"

Yeah, I just got slashed by 2 knights; once again I think this in the bible. (2400-1000)

Chase

"Since you've gone silent, I think it's my turn and I draw!" OK, my life points are low so I need to think strategically here. I don't get Wildheart back for another 2 turns and this hand doesn't give me any way of special summoning. Even if I could take out his childhood story book freaks, I've got to figure out a way to get Wilson back on our side before Taft tries to pull something. The only question is how?

"If you're thinking of a way to try and release the hold Taft has on Wilson there may be one possibility."

I look over towards Stratos. "If you think we should throw Taft overboard, I'm all for that."

"Not exactly, the power that is currently possessing Wilson is most likely a form of shadow energy. As a duel spirit, I'm made of shadow energy. If I could land a direct attack on Wilson's life points, we might be able to disrupt the connection between Wilson and the Shadow energy."

"Right, so to save Wilson, I'm going to have to get you out." Granted I don't have Stratos in my hand or any other monsters for that matter. "Alright then, time to play hard ball! I play Magical Mallet, now I get to shuffle the other 2 cards in my hand back into my deck and draw 2 new ones!" All right, I may not have drawn Stratos, but I did draw something to hold me over till I do. "I play Fusion Recovery! Now I get back 1 Polymerization and 1 Fusion Material monster back from my graveyard! Next, I play Polymerization to fuse the Burstinatrix I just got back with the Elemental HERO Clayman I just drew in order to fusion summon, Elemental HERO Rampart Blaster!" (ATK: 2000/DEF: 2500)

Clayman has now had his body altered to include armor plates, a shield and a big ass gun.

"You summoned it in defense mode," says Taft mockingly. "Don't tell me you're staling for something?"

"Not exactly, you see while Rampart Blaster is in defense mode, I can halve her ATK points so she can attack Wilson directly!"

Rampart Blaster is now aiming her big ass gun at Wilson. We all here a click, followed by several black projectiles that leave a smoke trail as they explode in front of a still unreactive Wilson. (3200-2200)

"I said you need to attack directly with me, not Rampart Blaster."

"Let's see you play this game Captain Sealing Fan." I turn my gaze back to Wilson. "It's your turn Cold Stone."

Wilson

"OK," starts Toni, "what fairy tale is he referencing to now?"

"None Toni," says an annoyed Vanessa, "Cold Stone Creamy is an Ice Cream chain you find in malls."

"Oh yeah… I like that place we should go there after this."

"My draw… next I play the equip spell card, The Queens Missing Ring!"

"Hey," starts Toni, "why is a big diamond ring choking Rampart Blaster?"

"The story of the White Snake," Vanessa sounds like she's getting a migraine.

"But if the card was about the Band White Snake, then shouldn't the name have something to do with cocaine?"

Vanessa is now staring at Toni. "No Toni, the story of The White Snake is about a servant who eats part of a white snake and gains the ability to talk to animals. While he has this power, he finds his queen's missing ring which was swallowed by a Goose."

"I can see the similarities," starts Kai, "now Rampart Blaster can't attack and during each End phase, she'll lose 500 ATK and DEF points."

"Ohhhh," starts Toni," it's like the ring is choking Rampart Blaster just like it did to the goose in the story." 

"Brilliant Toni, my monster's slowly dying, but at least you finally figured out a fairy tale reference."

"I end my turn." (2000-1500) (2500-2000)

Chase

I don't get my Wildheart back till my next turn and if I don't draw a good card now, this could all be long before that. "My draw," time to grow my hand back, "I play, Legacy of a HERO, now because there's 2 level 4 or higher HERO monsters in my graveyard, I get to draw 3 cards!"

"Well, did you draw me?" 

"Not yet, I set 1 card face down face down and end my turn." (1500-1000) (2000-1500)

Wilson

"My draw, I summon Buten!" (Level: 1/ATK: 200/DEF: 300) It's a little, plump, round, pig with a halo and an angel wings… wait a minute… "That's a tuner monster!"

"Be careful Chase," says a shocked Kai, "he's about to bring out a living legend!"

"I tune my level 1 Buten, level 4, Iron Hans and level 4, Iron Knight, in order to Synchro summon," Buten flew into the air and turned into a green ring, to which both Iron Hans and Iron Knight flew through, dematerializing into 8 shining stars and with the sound of a pigs oink in the back ground, (1+4+4=9) "I Synchro summon Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier!" (ATK: 2700/DEF: 2000)

"That's the monster he used to beat Kai!" As Vanessa says this Trishula's 3 heads let out 3 large roars.

"Which means the duel ends this turn," says a worried Toni. "If Trishula banishes Rampart Blaster, then the only card on Chase's field will be Scrap-Iron Scarecrow. He'll be able to negate Trishula's attack but now that Iron Hans is gone, Iron Knight is back to full strength." (700-1700)

"Which means that Chase will be able to stop one attack only to lose the second," says a disappointed Taft. "It's a shame, I was expecting more out of Mr. Rhodes."

"Whatever made you all think I'm done with this duel?!" The glass we're standing on has now been replaced with water. The water is now cascading over me and Wilson's monsters, dragging them under.

"What did you just do?" 

"Simple Captain Mustache, when Wilson summoned Trishula, I decided to activate my set card, Torrential Tribute! Since he summoned a monster, this card let me destroy every monster on the field!"

"Wilson still gets Trishula's effect," says an angry Taft.

"From your graveyard, I banish Elemental HERO Wildheart. From the field, I banish Scrap-Iron Scarecrow. From your hand you lose a random card." There goes Battle Tuned. "I set 1 card face down and end my turn."

Chase

"I draw," thanks to Trishula's effect, Wildheart has been banished so I don't get him back like I was supposed to. "Fine, since you took my Wildheart away, I think I'll just brink out Elemental HERO Sparkman!" (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1400) All right, Sparkman looks like he's ready to kick some ass. "Now Sparkman attack Wilson directly, static shockwave! (2200-600) That's it for me, your go."

Wilson

"My draw, and I play Monster Reborn, now I can special summon Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier back from my graveyard!"

Now the huge, blue and silver dragon is back. Its roar is so loud, everyone hear is starting to look worried, even my Sparkman.

"And now the true test begins." As Taft says this, we all turn towards him, hesitant at what he plans to say next. "As I said before, the point to this duel is to see who has what it takes to take over Segas. If it is to be Chase Rhodes, then he must win this duel. If it is to be Wilson Leonson, then he must survive his next move."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I have a bad feeling about this.

"Chase," Stratos is trembling, "this is where the duel gets dangerous."

"I activate the continuous trap that makes the hearts of 1000 brave men stop beating! I play the trap card, Geass!"

What the hell, the glass beneath my feet is now glowing purple. What the… now that I look at the entire platform; it looks like the purple energy is forming a shape.

"If you're wondering what shape the energy's becoming," says a happy Taft, "it's becoming the sacred symbol of Geass."

"It looks kind of like the Segas logo."

"Very perceptive Ms. Sorentino, actually, the name Segas is no more than an anagram of Geass. As for our logo, it's the symbol that is now appearing on the field!"

"Now, I banish Trishula-Dragon of the Ice Barrier, in order to special summon, Trishula the Geass Dragon!" (ATK: 2700/DEF: 2000)

The 3 headed blue and white Dragon has now been replaced with an even bigger 3 headed black dragon with glowing purple armor. None of the 3 heads have eyes. Instead, each head has the symbol of Seg- or apparently Geass where the eyes should be. The claws are long enough to be swords and the wings look like Sickle blades. It's roar even has me shaking and- wait a minute… is the glass… is the glass cra-

"Now it is time for the true test of this duel. Which one of you can end the duel before the energy being created by Trishula causes the platform to shatter!"

Next Time: Collapse

"Don't forget Agent Mustang, you may have more guns but I've still got a bomb."


	32. 32 Collapse

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

Chapter 32- Collapse

By Kevin Jones

Wilson

"My draw, and I play Monster Reborn, now I can special summon Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier back from my graveyard!"

Now the huge, blue and silver dragon is back. Its roar is so loud, everyone who hears it is starting to look worried, even my Sparkman.

"And now the true test begins." As Taft says this, we all turn towards him, hesitant at what he plans to say next. "As I said before, the point to this duel is to see who has what it takes to take over Segas. If it is to be Chase Rhodes, then he must win this duel. If it is to be Wilson Leonson, then he must survive his next move."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I have a bad feeling about this.

"Chase," Stratos is trembling, "this is where the duel gets dangerous."

"I activate the continuous trap that makes the hearts of 1000 brave men stop beating! I play the trap card, Geass!"

What the hell, the glass beneath my feet is now glowing purple. What the… now that I look at the entire platform; it looks like the purple energy is forming a shape.

"If you're wondering what shape the energy's becoming," says a happy Taft, "it's becoming the sacred symbol of Geass."

"It looks kind of like the Segas logo."

"Very perceptive Ms. Sorentino, actually, the name Segas is no more than an anagram of Geass. As for our logo, it's the symbol that is now appearing on the field!"

"Now, I banish Trishula-Dragon of the Ice Barrier, in order to special summon, Trishula the Geass Dragon!" (ATK: 2700/DEF: 2000)

The 3 headed blue and white Dragon has now been replaced with an even bigger 3 headed black dragon with glowing purple armor. None of the 3 heads have eyes. Instead, each head has the symbol of Seg- or apparently Geass where the eyes should be. The claws are long enough to be swords and the wings look like Sickle blades. It's roar even has me shaking and- wait a minute… is the glass… is the glass cra-

"Now it is time for the true test of this duel. Which one of you can end the duel before the energy being created by Trishula causes the platform to shatter!"

"You're crazy," yells Toni, "At the rate the glass is cracking, we only have few minutes until this whole thing shatters!"

"Looks like it," this doesn't seem to bother Taft. "If this duel doesn't end soon then this whole platform will break and we'll all be killed. Luckily, Wilson is about to make his move."

"Now, I am obligated to use Trishula's special ability! For this part of this ability, one of Trishula's 3 heads will now fire a beam of energy…. Since the middle head's beam of energy just blew up your Sparkman, the following things will happen: first of all, you must banish your Sparkman for the remainder of the duel. Second: I cannot conduct my battle phase this turn and third, you now lose half your life points!" (1000-500)

The energy, it's so powerful, it- it's got me in the air! There's nothing for me to grab on to! I- I'm about to go over the edge! There, there's nothing stopping me, I'm going to fall, I'm going to fall to my death and everyone's going to be at the mercy of The Grand Master and it's all my- someone's got my foot! I'm now hanging upside down over the ledge. As I look up, it looks like… the others; they've all got me by the foot. They must have run over here, the minute my feet left the glass.

"We're not letting you go Chase," says Vanessa," ever!"

"Less talking," says Kai," more pulling."

I lift my other leg up and someone grabs it. Toni then says, "1, 2, 3, pull!"

I'm now back on the glass, everyone's shaken up, but we're all still alive.

"Maybe, I shouldn't skip Gym class," says an out of breath Toni.

"You- you guys saved me. I was about to fall to my death but you guys saved me."

"Of course," starts Vanessa, "like I said before, we're friends and friends are always there for each other.

"I hate to break the sappy moment," says Kai, "but can we please end this duel before the glass shatters and we all die anyways."

"Don't worry Kai; I know what I need to do to end this duel right now." As I stand up, I turn my head towards Taft. "I surrender, go ahead and make Wilson your new leader."

Everyone is speechless. "You can't surrender;" Taft is mad, "this duel is to decide who will gain my master's powers!"

"I don't care; no amount of power is worth risking anyone's lives."

"I don't think you understand boy, this duel has become a Shadow Game, which means you can't surrender. The only way this duel can end is if someone's life points hit 0.

"That can't be true!"

"Actually Chase, he's right." I look at Stratos but before I can say anything, he says, "When someone's life points hit 0 in a shadow game, it disrupts the flow of shadow energy. The only other way to disrupt the flow and end the shadow game would be for me to make physical contact with Wilson."

"Like with a direct attack?"

"That would be our best bet."

"Great, so in other words, nothing's changed except if I don't win this duel in a few minutes, we're all going to die." 

"Basically."

"I end my turn."

Chase

"My draw," this is not good. I only know one of his Trishula's 3 effects, granted the one I do know could end this if he gets another monster on the field. I have 2 cards in my hand and neither of them are Stratos. I've got one move to make and it's a long shot. "Alright, here we go, I summon Elemental HERO Bubbleman (ATK: 800/DEF: 1200) in defense mode. Now, because I just summoned Bubbleman while I control no other cards, I get to draw 2 more,"…shit. "I end my turn."

Wilson

"I draw, and next one of Trishula's 3 effects will activate!" If the middle head's effect activates again not only will life points go lower but I'm not sure if the others will be able to save me, seeing as the cracks in the glass have now spread out to about ¼ the platform.

"It just came from Trishula's left head!" As Vanessa says this, the beam is hitting my graveyard, granted I don't feel a thing this time…oh crap I just lost Polymerization.

"Now since a card was just banished from your graveyard, you now have to send the top 4 cards of your deck to the graveyard!"

There goes- wait a second… maybe there's a way to turn this game around.

"Next I pay the continuous spell card Revealing Light of Geass! Now, so long as I control a Geass Monster, neither of us can play face down cards!"

OK, making a comeback just got a little bit harder.

"Where on earth did he get that card?"

"Very simple Ms. Sorentino, my master has made dozens of Geass cards over the years. When he gave little Wilson the means to summon a Geass Monster, it's only natural he gave the boy a few support cards as well."

"Now Trishula, destroy his Bubbleman, Trinity Geass Stream!"

The energy from the blast, I can feel it pushing me back- wait a minute, Bubbleman is now standing in front of me! The blast just destroyed him, but he standing in front of me was enough to keep me from being thrown over the edge. I wonder if that means-

"I end my turn."

Chase

There's no time for me to wonder about anything except the duel for now. "My draw… sorry Taft but I think it's time to take that Dragon down! I summon the tuner monster, Debris Dragon!" (Level: 4/ATK: 1000/DEF: 2000)

"That's odd," starts Toni, "normally when Chase summons Debris Dragon, it jumps around, interacts with the opponent and even talks, but today it's just standing there."

Toni's right, since Debris Dragon isn't here, the hologram version of him is just acting like a normal monster. "Now Debris Dragon's effect activates, which lets me special summon a monster with 500 or less ATK from my graveyard!"

"You don't have any," says Taft.

"Hate to break it to you, but that mill from last turn helped me more than it hurt me, because now I can special summon, Tuningware! (Level: 1/ATK: 100/DEF: 300) I'm not done yet, because next I play the spell card Double Reborn! Thanks to this card I get to special 1 monster my side of the field, and one monster to your side of the field! First up, to your side of the field, I'll give you back your Forest Wolf, (ATK: 1800/DEF: 300) meanwhile I'll take back my Elemental HERO Avian (Level 3/ ATK: 1000/DEF: 1000)!"

"All right Chase," says Kai, "now beat this kid! Seriously, beat this kid, quickly I think we got about 5 minutes left!"

"Now, I tune my level 4 Debris Dragon, level 3 Elemental HERO Avian, and my level 1 Tuningware!"

Debris Dragon flew like a bullet into the air and as it spread its wings it dematerialized and turned into 4 large green rings. At that moment Avian and Tuningware jumped into the air and dematerialized into 4 bright stars that fashioned themselves equally within the rings (4+3+1=8) and with a burst of light, "I Synchro summon Stardust Dragon (ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000)!"

"So," says Taft, "the legendary Stardust Dragon. When I saw the video feed of the duel between Chase and the circus guy I didn't believe what I was seeing until now. That being said, I fail to see how this dragon will help in destroying Wilson's dragon."

"Just watch, because now thanks to Tuningware's effect I get to draw 1 card! Next I play the spell card H-Heated Heart! Now thanks to this card, Stardust Dragon gains 500 ATK points! (2500-3000) Now, Stardust Dragon, show that dragon that 1 head is better than 3, Heated Cosmic Flare!"

Stardust's blast is now twice as big as usual and has a tint of red flame in it. Trishula is bracing for impact but it is still sent flying off the building thanks to Stardust's power. (600-300)

"All right," happily says Kai, "Trishula's gone and now the cracking stops!"

Taft is now laughing, "not exactly!"

What's he mean by- oh shit, now that the smoke is clearing, I can see that Trishula is still on the field.

"I guess I forgot to tell you all, Geass monsters can only be removed from the field if the Geass Trap Card is removed from the field. The funniest part of that effect is that the Geass trap card can't be removed from the field. You were hoping that by destroying Trishula, you could release my master's hold on little Wilson. Not only has that idea back fired on you, but it's now what's going to cost you this duel."

"This isn't good Chase; the only card in your hand is Big One Warrior and the cracks are almost to this side of the platform."

"Thank you Stratos for the vote of confidence. I end my turn."

Wilson

"My draw and next Trishula's effect activates!"

Oh crap, this time it's the head on the far right and it's heading past Stardust and straight for my he- wait a minute, the beam has now turned really small and is just shining on Big One Warrior.

"This is the last of Trishula's effects." As Vanessa says this, I place Big One Warrior in my pocket along with my other banished cards.

"Now Trishula's 3rd effect activates, since you removed a card from your hand, he gains 1000 ATK points!" Of course he just made his Trishula stronger, it's not like it was already unstoppable. (2700-3700)

"Uh Chase," starts Toni, "we're running out of solid glass."

"Now Trishula, destroy his Stardust, Trinity Geass Stream!"

"I'm not dead yet! I activate another card that got milled before, Necro Gardna! Now by banishing Necro Gardna, I can negate your attack and save my life points."

Even though Trishula, Stardust and the ghostly image of Necro Gardna are in the air above us, the energy from Trishula's blast is accelerating the cracking. We're almost out of time.

"I switch Forest Wolf to defense mode and end my turn."

Chase

"My draw"… not Stratos but- the glass, the glass has just shattered. I was too late, I could have won last turn but I couldn't bring myself to win while Wilson would still be under the control of this weird Geass power. Now we're falling- wait a minute, power, there may be one chance, "Stardust, save us!"

As we all fall over the edge of the building, Stardust Dragon darts towards us and scoops us up and hold the 4 of us tight against his chest.

"Chase," yells Kai, "what's going on."

"If Trishula had become real enough that he could throw me over then I figured Stardust had become real enough to catch us!"

"How long will this last?"

"Well Toni-… I don't know! Quick Stardust, get us back on solid ground!"

"We can't yet!" We all turn towards Vanessa. "It's Wilson; he's falling down the side of the building!"

Vanessa is right, Wilson is falling fast down the side of the building and since he's still under the control of Geass, he's silent as a ghost. Now how am I-

"Quick Chase," shouts Stratos "use your last card to win the duel and then summon me so I can go save Wilson. Don't ask me why just do it!"

"I play the quick play spell card, Enemy Controller! This lets me switch Forest from defense to attack mode! Now Stardust Dragon, destroy Forest Wolf, Cosmic Flare!"

Winner: Chase Loser: Wilson

"Next I play Elemental HERO Stratos," as Stardust Dragon's blast engulfs Forest Wolf, my deck spits Stratos out from the bottom of my deck. No time to waste, I put Stratos on the card reader and he materializes. He quickly dashes towards Wilson and grabs him. There out of hearing range but it looks like Wilson is freaking out at what's going on here, a good sign.

"We're heading down!" Kai's right, I don't know if Stardust Dragon is losing power or if this is just his way of landing but- oh crap we're about to hit the-… we're on the ground, safe and sound.

"Can we go back up a few stories," says an exhausted Toni, "I think I left my stomach up there."

"What the hell just happened!?"

We all look over to see the idiot brigade, the FBI, running towards us.

"Basically," I say as I get back up on my feet, "Stardust Dragon knew he only had a few seconds to remain a physical being so he brought us down fast enough so that he could use the last of his energy to cushion the impact and keep us alive."

"So…" says a confused Mustang, "what just happened?"

I can tell there's- "Chase, what's going on here?!"

We all look over to see a scared and confused Wilson looking around. Behind him is Stratos who has just nodded his head. I nod back and look up at Stardust Dragon. He looks down at me and nods his head. I smile and nod right back.

"Ah, how cute, a boy and his Dragon, I think I might cry." 

We all look towards the side of the building to see an old man standing in front of a crowd of people.

"Sir," starts Mustang, "please step back with the rest of the crowd. The FBI has everything under control."

"On the contrary Roy, I'm the one who has the situation under control."

"Wait a minute," starts Vanessa, "I know you!"

The old man puts a sinister looking smile on his face as he changes his position from Mustang to Vanessa. "And where do you know me from, my pretty?"

"I- I… don't know… it's like I know you from somewhere… but I don't know where."

"That's normal, the longer you look at me the more you'll feel that way until your brain is able evaluate why you no memory genuine memory of me, apart from a feeling of fear."

Nervously, Vanessa backs up and places herself between the old man Wilson. Come to think of it, Wilson has the same combination of fear and confusion on his face. How can one little old man place so much fear in to 2 people who don't even know how they know him? Wait a second… this is like before when-

"Ha, ha, ha, by the look on your face Mr. Rhodes, it would appear you have figured out who I am."

"You're, you're"-

"I'll save you some time. My name is Benjamin Canton Beach and I am the Leader of Segas, a group consisting of me and like… I think 3 or 4 other guys. I started Segas using a magical power called Geass. I'm sure some of you by now have realized that Segas is little more than an Anagram of Geass. The reason for this is"-

"Yeah, yeah," starts Mustang. As he says this, him and the 3 other FBI agents pull out there guns and aim them at Beach's chest. "I'm sure you have some grand tale of how you got your wacky powers and why you're trying to take over the world. How about you put your hands up and you can tell us the whole story back at my office."

"Must you be so gung-ho Roy, it's not like it will make you seem any more threatening. Don't forget Agent Mustang, you may have more guns but I've still got a bomb."

"I don't see any bomb," says Mustang.

"Ahhh" screams Toni, "we completely forgot about the bomb that was attached to the glass platform!"

"You all might have but I didn't. In fact, I think it should be showing up… right…about- ah, here it comes."

What the heck, the black box that was under the platform… seems to have a helicopter propeller attached to the top and is landing in front of Beach. "I don't think Air Hogs has ever made anything this cool. I knew once little Wilson would activate the Geass trap card that the glass would begin to crack and eventually shatter. That is why I had a custom bomb made that would actually fly itself away upon Geass' activation."

"So you planned all of this," says Kai, "even though you could have killed all of us."

"Exactly, that being said, I was certain one of them would have ended the duel before they hit the pavement and I was technically right. Now it's time for Chase to receive his prize for winning." 

"What's that, some grey hair dye so I can look like you?"

"Funny," he's actually laughing, "but we have to get going. You see we have a tight schedule to keep."

"Sorry," yells Mustang, "but neither you nor Rhodes is going anywhere except down town."

"Actually we have to go up town and- oh will you put the gun down, the bomb is designed to go off if it picks up something that sounds like a gun shot."

"There's no such thing," says Hawkeye.

"Does anyone here want to take that chance… I thought not." A black car has just pulled up next to Beach. "Now then, Mr. Rhodes we need to get going. As for you Roy, if you don't believe me about what will happen if you fire your gun near my bomb, I could just use the actual detonator and blow us all up anyways."

"There's no need for that," I'm screwed. "I'll go peacefully, so long as you promise not to hurt anyone else."

"Chase," says Toni, "you don't have to do this."

"Oh yes he does. I spent a lot of money renting this car and I'll be damned if I found out it was all a waste."

Without saying anything, I walk towards the black car. No one says anything as Beach opens the back door to the car. I enter the car, slide all the way to the left and he says to everyone. "Roy, he'll call you when we're all done, until then, may all of you have a happy Halloween."

With that, Beach enters the car and says, "Mr. Rhodes, meet… something Harrison. He's the one who told me about you in the first place."

Before the skinny guy can say anything, I say, "What do you want with me?" 

"All in due time Chase but first I must apologize." 

"For what?" 

"For lying to you."

"What do you me"- what the! I just heard an explosion from behind us!"

Next Time: Acceptance of evil

"I want you to be armed with your Assault Mode monster so you'll be able to have your most powerful monster with you when you realize just how weak you are."


	33. 33 Acceptance of Evil

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

Chapter 33- Acceptance of evil

By

By Kevin Jones

"What the hell just happened, Rhodes and this Beach character weren't inside the car 5 seconds and the god damn bomb blinded us, made a shit load noise and now the car's gone!?" As Mustang says this, he and the others begin to stand up and rub their eyes.

"You know," starts Toni, "I think I know what kind of a bomb that is." Before anyone can say anything, Toni walks over to the bomb and picks it up. As she begins to examine it, everyone closes in around her.

"It looks like there are speakers along the sides of it," says a confused Kai. "Kind of like something you'd find at a rock concert."

"That's exactly what it is." As Toni says this, she digs her finger nails into a door that divides the top of the bomb into 2 halves. She then opens the left side of the door to reveal half of the propeller that was used to fly the bomb down as well as a half a large piece of glass.

"It looks kind of like a magnifying glass in there," says Vanessa inquisitively.

"That's basically what's for," says Toni. "This is a Flash Bomb and you see these at rock concerts. Underneath this glass magnifier are several hundred mini LED lights that when they turn on can make a light bright enough to blind someone to close. We were all just a few inches away from being blinded. On the sides here are 2 large speakers that can make one hell of a loud noise."

"So," starts Mustang, "combine a bright light, with a recording of a bomb noise as well as all of us who are all on edge and you've got the perfect recipe for a distraction that gave Beach enough time to escape while we all jumped to the ground in fear of being blown up."

Wilson then asks, "Where'd he get it?"

"You can buy these for about 100 bucks on line."

Everybody raises an eyebrow as they switch there gaze to Toni but it is Hawkeye who says, "How do you know that?"

"That's not important. Anyways, the only thing unusual about this thing is the propeller which looks like Beach just took apart a toy helicopter and hot glued it to the bomb."

"So," starts Havoc, "a little old man was able to scare all of us enough that he was able to escape with Chase by using a prop."

"It's ok," says an enthusiastic Wilson, "Chase can handle this guy easily."

Everyone has now shifted there gaze to a confident Wilson. "How can you be so confident," asks Vanessa? "He was able to take over both our minds who's to say he won't do the same to Chase?"

"If Chase could stop those Satellite Revenge guys then surely he can handle this old man."

"Wait, wait, wait," Kai is confused, "you mean the Satellite Revenge Militia. A group of nut jobs who blew up a bunch of random empty buildings a few months ago?"

Wilson nods

"What on earth makes you think that?"

Before Wilson can answer, Mustang says "let's worry about that later. Now Wilson, Vanessa, do you to have any idea where you saw this guy and why he scared you 2 so much."

"Last night," begins Wilson, "he knocked on my door. I think it was at like… 2 in the morning. I'm not supposed to open the door to strangers but he said he worked at the same bar as my mom and that there had been an accident. I ran to the door and opened it up but that's it. Next thing I knew I was falling down the side of this building and Chase's Stratos grabbed me."

"Wait a minute," Vanessa now looks as if she's seen a ghost. "That's like what happened to me. I was staring in one direction, someone tapped me on the shoulder and that's where the altered memories begin!"

"Wait," starts Mustang, "so how is this guy able to do all this?"

Kai takes a deep breath and says, "He has some type of evil power called Geass. It seems to allow him to control people's minds. According to Taft- holy crap, we forgot about Taft!"

"I didn't see him as we were falling," says Vanessa, who like everyone else is starting to panic.

"Last I saw him," starts Toni, "he was on the metal…platform."

Suddenly, everyone runs to the side of the building where the metal platform was. Upon reaching the ally way, Vanessa places her hand over Wilson's eyes so he does not have to see the horror that everyone else is now starring at.

"He fell," says a shocked Toni. "He fell all the way down the side of the building."

The lower half of Taft's dead body is covered by the metal platform while a pool of blood surrounds him. Simple logic tells everyone that when the glass shattered, Taft fell 55 stories with the platform behind him.

"That's it," Kai says this out of resolution as opposed to out of confusion. "He's been toying with us for days and this all he gets. I bet you he didn't even suffer."

"Wilson!" Everyone shifts there gaze from the dead body to the sight of a woman in her late 20's. She is wearing a light blue waitress outfit and she looks both scared and tired.

"Mom!" Wilson breaks free from Vanessa's arm and runs towards the woman. They then hold each other tight as they both begin to shed tears of joy.

"I was so scared! When I got home this morning, I found a note on the door that said you had been taken somewhere to prepare for your duel and if I ever wanted to see you again, then I'd keep my mouth shut and act as if everyone was normal! Then I heard that 2 strange dragons had been seen on top of the tower and I knew I had to come and see if you were here, I was so scared!"

"Well I'll be damned," starts Toni, "looks like there's one thing today that isn't spiraling into pure chaos."

"I'll say," starts Kai, "that being said, now we've got to find Chase and by now he could be out of the city." Kai then shifts his gaze towards Vanessa who seems to be deep in thought. "Don't worry, I'm sure Chase can hold his own until we find him."

"What," Vanessa breaks from her train of thought. "No that's not what I'm thinking about."

"Then what," Kai isn't sure how she could be thinking about anything other than what has happened today.

"Remember when Wilson said that Chase had stopped the Satellite Revenge Militia."

"Yeah," starts Toni, "I remember how they had the whole city in terror before they just disappeared but I don't see how Chase could have had anything to do with them."

"Well," she begins, "a few days ago some friends of mine at school were commenting about how we all hang out together. They told me that prior to this year, Chase really only had 2 people he'd be seen willingly hanging around with. One of them was his former roommate whose parents transferred him to another school last April. The other was a girl with short, dark, almost magenta colored red hair and blue eyes. Towards the end of the year, a lot of people thought they were in love."

"So what," says Kai, "so Chase likes red heads, I fail to see the connection."

"She died, the same day the SRM claimed they'd blow up half of Manhattan. Her death was ruled a Homicide and the main suspects we're the SRM. Also, that's the day Chase got the scar on his neck."

…

Oh crap, my head hurts. It feels like my head is bouncing up and down but the rest of me feels like I'm on grass. As I open my eyes I can see that I am lying on grass. I can also see a bunch of black humps, all around me, just black- no wait… grey humps. I'm in a cemetery, no joke I'm in a cemetery and its night time. I try to get up but I still feel a little disorientated. I put hand on the tomb stone next to me to support myself.

"Could you please have a little more respect for the dead? That is the grave of my great Grandfather after all."

I look down at the name on the tomb Stone. "Alfred Ely Beach…the rest looks unreadable."

"That's because over the years, the rest of the writing has worn away. Now at first you might say to yourself, erosion affects everything eventually. All though, Colonel Sanders has had his Mausoleum restored 3 times since his death in 1980. My Great Grandfather redefined Metropolitan infrastructure and he gets a worn out rock in south Brooklyn."

"So, were still in the city?"

He now has a confused look on his face. "Funny, you don't seem to be interested in how I killed all your friends."

"I know there not dead."

"Oh," he seems intrigued, "and how do you know that?" 

"Killing's not your style, for you killing means wasting possible puppets."

"Interesting assumption, how about we play a little game, an answer for answer, first you'll ask me a question and then I'll ask you. Once we feel we've gotten a good enough feel for each other, we'll begin your initiation. Now then will you ask your question?" 

"What did you use to knock me out because the last thing I remember is hearing the explosion, next thing I know, I'm here."

"Wow," he sounds sarcastic, "that's your first question? Alright, fine, the minute you got into the car, it began giving off a gas designed specifically for you using basic chemicals and Penicillium fungi."

"Penicillium…Penicillin, how do you"-

"My turn, now then, what kind of man do you think I am?" 

"You're the type of man who only cares about 2 things in this world, power and vanity. If you wanted to, you could use your Geass power to do whatever you want and leave no trail but that's not enough for you. You aren't happy unless you've got someone constantly looking over their shoulder for the rest of their lives. It's why you've got every lawyer in the city thinking there's an evil cult watching them or why you built a fictitious organization instead of just telling the 16 of us that you wanted to watch some duels."

"Very good Mr. Rhodes, your question." 

"How do you know I'm allergic to Penicillin?"

"Your schools medical records of course. I also know you broke your left leg in a turbo Duel Accident 2 years ago and last June you were hospitalized after you were found half dead in the Hudson River. Strange part is, and this brings me to my question, why do you have a medical record but there's nothing on file about your life before you were 8 years old."

"That's none of your business."

"On the contrary, you forget, I'm holding all the cards in this situation. I'm not asking for your whole life story, I just want to know why the biggest private school on the east coast doesn't even have the name of the parents of its biggest trouble maker." 

"I didn't live in this country until I was 8. Before that me and my parents moved around a lot and I didn't stay anywhere long enough for anyone important to take notice. Now what do you want with me?!"

"Oh my, it would seem I hit a sour spot. Very well then, tonight is Halloween; a day when the border line between our world and the Shadow Realm is its weakest. My plan is to enter the Shadow Realm by making my Geass so powerful I no longer need a physical body and my spirit can roam freely between the 2 worlds."

"That's it; you did all this so you could make your life into land of the Lost!?"

"Apparently you're not very happy with this."

"You could have killed us today!" 

"All I have done was necessary to achieve my goal. I needed to find a duelist who could generate enough shadow energy to weaken the border line. The border line is its weakest at midnight. Also, for obvious reasons, cemeteries are weak points as well."

"So that's it then, you have everything planned out except for one thing, I'm not going to help you!"

"Oh yes you will."

"I doubt you or your driver friend from before can stop me from walking away." 

"Actually it's just me you have to worry about." He gestures over to the right side of the cemetery.

I look over and- "What the hell?" The driver from before…he's dead. He's not facing me but I can see dry blood on his head.

"After he laid you in front of the grave, he went over there and shot himself in the head."

"Why the hell did he do that?"

"Because that is the order given to all those who work for me, once there final task is done, they were to kill themselves."

"That's why Taft was ok with the glass shattering; he knew he would just kill himself later anyways."

"Exactly, that's the power of my Geass. It lets me alter people thinking patterns so that they follow a set of instructions. Every time I use my Geass on someone I tell them that when I say there role is done they kill themselves. If you leave now, I'll make sure both little Wilson and the beautiful Vanessa blow their brains out by sunrise." 

"You bastard," if I leave, Vanessa and Wilson are still in danger but if I stay... "What do I have to do?" 

"We are going to duel and this duel will be so epic, it will weaken the border line enough so that I can break through."

"That's it; all I have to do is duel you and you'll leave us alone, for good?"

"Of course, once all this is over, I won't have any reason to stay here in New York."

"Then let's duel."

Chase

"To prove to you that I'm not all bad, you can go first."

"And to prove to you that I'm not a push over, I'm going to use this turn to kick your ass! My draw, I summon, Elemental HERO Stratos (ATK: 1800/DEF: 300) next I activate Stratos' special ability which lets me add Elemental HERO Lady Heat to my hand! Next I play the spell card Hero's Bond, now I get to special summon 2 level 4 or lower Elemental HERO monsters from my hand to the field! I summon Elemental Lady Heat (ATK: 1300/DEF: 1000) in attack mode and Elemental HERO Woodsman (ATK: 1000/DEF: 2000 in defense mode!"

"Now why would you summon such powerful monsters if you don't plan on attacking?"

"Watch and learn because now that I'm ending my turn, Lady Heat hits you with 200 points of damage for each Elemental HERO I control!" (4000-3400)

Beach

"Clever, you used your Stratos to add a HERO to your hand that allows you to go after my life points, even on the first turn. You then used a spell card that allowed you to summon not just the monster you added to your hand but another monster that not only provides defense but will allow you to add one of your key cards to your hand on your next turn. I hope you now see why I wanted you for this task."

"I hope you make your move soon."

"Must you rush this? Besides I just wanted to compliment your monsters before I wipe them out." He seems happy, to happy. "I play the spell card, Raigeki! Now thanks to this card, I get to destroy every single monster you control!"

"But that card has been banned for decades!"

"And I have a program that scrambles a Duel Disks Forbidden card list. That's why I used that idiot from your school in my plans. His parents own a software company and I've spent years experimenting with counterfeit duel cards."

"So in other words you're playing with a deck full of cards that are considered too powerful for use."

"Pretty much yeah, now I discard 1 card from my hand to special summon The Tricky from my hand! (ATK: 2000/DEF: 1200) Now Tricky, attack him directly!"

"Oh no you don't, I discard the Kuriboh in my hand to reduce all my battle damage to 0!"

As the creepy looking clown fires a ray of energy towards me, Kuriboh jumps in the way and gets shocked in my place.

"Clever, granted you now only have 2 cards in your hand so I think I'll just end my turn.

Chase

"Rather it's only 2, 3 or even a million cards I've got all I need to stop you right here! I draw; next I summon Elemental HERO Sparkman." (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1400)

"I fail to see how he's all you need."

"Don't you know a Hero needs a few things before there ready to kick ass. That's why I'm playing the spell card H-Heated Heart! Thanks to this card, Sparkman gains an extra 500 ATK points! (1600-2100) Now Sparkman, show this clown and his monster how a Hero fights, heated shockwave!"

"Clever, you made your lightning red and blew up my monster (3400-3300) but I know Heated Heart only lasts till the end of the turn and I have 2 more copies of The Tricky waiting in my deck."

"Then I just got to beat you before you draw them. I set 1 card face down and end my turn."

Beach

"I draw and next I activate the effect of the monster I discarded last turn. It's a very rare card called Sinister Serpent."

"It's also banned." 

"True, very true, but there's nothings stopping me now is there." He seems like a child. "Now then, I summon Sinister Serpent in defense mode. Next I'll set 1 card face down and end my turn!"

Chase

Clearly he's using his green snake with wings to set a trap for me; luckily I got everything I need to get around it. "I play the spell card R-Righteous Justice which lets me destroy your set card!"

"Then I think I'll just activate it! I play the trap, Crush Card Virus!"

"That's a legendary card!"

"Good so you know how it works! I tribute Sinister Serpent in order to destroy all monsters you control and draw with 1500 or more ATK for the next 3 turns!"

A bunch of purple spores have just hit Sparkman. He's now on the ground and is disappearing. "I end my turn."

Beach

"I draw and next I get Sinister Serpent back to my hand! Now I think I'll stop you from ruining my next move. I play the spell card Giant Trunade, now all spell and trap cards are returned to the hand!" No, my Scrap-Iron Scarecrow, plus he's smiling ear to ear. Next I discard 1 card to special summon The Tricky!"

"So much for beating you before you drew him." 

"Actually, I've had him in my hand since turn 1. I just wanted to have a little more fun with you. Now Tricky, be a pal and attack him directly."

The Tricky has his fingers in the shape of the gun. There is now a beam of energy releasing from his fingers and heading straight for me. (4000-2000) I don't feel the damage of the attack yet but I have a feeling that's coming up.

"I will now set 1 card face down and end my turn."

Chase

This isn't good, he gets to see every card I draw and if it's a half decent monster, he gets to destroy it instantly. I may have Scrap-Iron Scarecrow but he has another monster in his deck that has enough ATK to wipe me out in a single blow. "My draw"-

"This means I get to see it, and if it's a powerful monster, I get to destroy it!"

"Sorry but I drew a spell card and one that's gonna change this game! I play Legacy of a Hero! Now because I've got 2 or more Level 4 or higher Elemental HERO monsters I get to draw 3 cards!"

"Which means I get to check all 3 cards you draw, so tell me, how lucky do you feel?"

"Lucky enough to turn this game around, so first draw: Double Reborn, second: Polymerization and third Kurisynchron!"

"Not bad, only one monster and it only has 300 ATK." 

"I also figured out the way to get around your Crush Card! I play Double Reborn, this lets me special summon one monster from my graveyard and one monster from your graveyard! First up, I'm gonna give you your Sinister Serpent and I'll get back my Stratos!"

"Clever, you realized that my Crush Card doesn't affect monsters that are summoned after its activation."

"I also know that it doesn't affect monsters I add to my hand, so this time I'm adding Elemental HERO Ocean to my hand!"

He is smiling from ear to ear. "I think I know what's coming up next."

"I play the spell card Polymerization! Now I get to send Elemental HERO Stratos and Ocean to the graveyard in order to special summon Elemental HERO Absolute Zero (ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000)!"

"Your favorite fusion monster."

"Take a look why, Absolute Zero, show that guy why most people like super heroes over clowns, instant freeze!" Absolute Zero jumps into the air and fires a blast of ice straight at The Tricky and- "what the?" The Tricky has just turned purple. Actually…it looks like the whole area we're standing is starting to- "oh no…you just activated Geass, didn't you?"

"Yup, now I get to banish The Tricky in order to special summon the Trick King (ATK: 2000/DEF: 1200)!" The purple energy that was covering The Tricky is now disappearing. The Tricky's yellow and black suit has now been replaced with a red and black suit. The question mark on its face has been replaced with a mask. The left half of the mask features a porcelain white joy face and the right side of the mask features a porcelain white sorrow face. On the chest is the symbol of Geass and I can feel evil coming out of it.

"You still take 500 points of damage from my attack!" (3300-2800)

"True but on my next turn this duel is over."

"I doubt that so I'll just set 1 card and end my turn."

Beach

"Allow me to change your doubts, I draw! Now, Sinister Serpent returns to my hand, but he's not going to stay there for long because now, I'm going to activate The Trick King's special ability! Now I can discard a card in order to special summon 1 monster from my hand or extra deck and ignore the summoning conditions!"

"That gives you access to the most powerful monsters in the game, how on earth could a card that powerful even exist?!"

"What part of powerful super villain don't you understand? Now then, I discard Sinister Serpent in order to special summon, Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier!" (ATK: 2300/DEF: 1400)

"So you Synchro summoned without using any materials, powerful except Brionac is a water monster, which means Zero gains an extra 500 ATK!" (2500-3000)

"You aren't very familiar with the Dragons of the Ice Barrier. We're running low on time here so I'm just gonna sum it up like this: you don't have snowballs chance in hell of stopping me. Especially since now I'm going to activate Brionac's special ability! By discarding 1 card I can return your monster back to your hand!"

"First of all, Absolute Zero won't be going back to my hand, he'll be going back to my Extra Deck. Second, when Absolute Zero is removed from the field, you lose all your monsters!"

As Zero vanishes from the field, a large ring of ice hits The dragon and the gay guy.

"I know, I saw how you beat your class mate but unless you forgot, Geass monsters can't be removed from the field. Oh that's right; you still have your set card. Well, actually you don't. Now behold," he sounds like this is all just a big joke to him. "The Trick King's second ability, when the monster I summoned with his effect is destroyed by a card effect, I get to banish 1 card you control."

"So there goes my Scarecrow."

"Exactly and with only 2000 life points left, this duel is mine! Now Trick King, why don't you go give Rhodesie a nice a big bear hug."

This isn't good, on one side I've got Trick King heading straight for me. On the other side, and maybe this is the allergic reaction talking but I think I see ghosts ready to grab me.

Next Time: I can hear a voice

What's that voice?

"Do you remember Chase?" It's a girls voice I can tell that much "Do you remember what you promised me?" Is it Mom again, no to young, maybe Vanessa, Toni? "You haven't forgotten, have you?"

"No, no I haven't."


	34. 34 I can hear A voice

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

Chapter 34- I can hear a voice

By

By Kevin Jones

This is the story of a young man. A young man who spent most of his life only knowing pain but then one day, he met a girl and she was the catalyst to his life becoming a series of dangerous adventures that turned him inside out.

Unfortunately for him, one of these adventures would forever change the course of his destiny and the destiny of many others. This is how that particular day ended.

…

Beach

"Allow me to change your doubts, I draw! Now, Sinister Serpent returns to my hand, but he's not going to stay here for long, because now I'm going to activate The Trick King's special ability! Now I can discard a card in order to special summon 1 monster from my hand or extra deck and ignore the summoning conditions!"

"That gives you access to the most powerful monsters in the game, how on earth could a card that powerful even exist?!"

"What part of powerful super villain don't you understand? Now then, I discard Sinister Serpent in order to special summon, Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier!" (ATK: 2300/DEF: 1400)

"So you Synchro summoned without using any materials, pretty cool except Brionac is a water monster, which means Zero gains an extra 500 ATK!" (2500-3000)

"You aren't very familiar with the Dragons of the Ice Barrier are you? We're running low on time here, so I'm just gonna sum it up like this: you don't have snowballs chance in hell of stopping me. Especially since now I'm going to activate Brionac's special ability! By discarding 1 card I can return your monster back to your hand!"

"First of all, Absolute Zero won't be going back to my hand, he'll be going back to my Extra Deck. Second, when Absolute Zero is removed from the field, you lose all your monsters!"

As Zero vanishes from the field, a large ring of ice hits the dragon and the giant night light.

"I know, I saw how you beat your class mate but unless you forgot, Geass monsters can't be removed from the field. Oh that's right; you still have your set card. Well, actually you don't. Now behold," he sounds like this is all just a big joke to him. "The Trick King's second ability, when the monster I summoned with his effect is destroyed by a card effect, I get to banish 1 card you control."

"So there goes my Scarecrow."

"Exactly and with only 2000 life points left, this duel is mine! Now Trick King, why don't you go give Rhodesie a nice big bear hug."

This isn't good, on one side I've got Trick King heading straight for me. On the other side, and maybe this is the allergic reaction talking, I think I see ghosts ready to grab me.

"Here's Tricky," as he says this bad pun, The Trick King fires a blast of purple energy. The blast explodes and my entire side of the field is covered in smoke. "You had no cards on the field. You did well but you'll see once you have my power that"-

"Kuri-kuri" (ATK: 300/DEF: 200)

"What the, how do you still have life points and a monster on the field?" 

"Uh-oh, you don't seem so happy now that the tables are starting to turn. I guess I should explain, earlier in the game, I discarded my Kuriboh to stop your first Tricky's attack. Then when you cleared my field a minute ago so you could win using your Trick King, I was able to use the last card in my hand to pull another miracle."

"All you had in your hand was a Synchron."

"Well your half right. The monster was Kurisynchron and when you declare a direct attack I can special summon him from my hand as well as Kuriboh from my graveyard. Also while Kurisynchron is on the field, he's the only monster you can attack."

"Which saved you for another turn but just so you know, I'm not mad. It's just that when you reach my age, excitement doesn't always end pleasantly. It's now your move."

Chase

"I thought that's why you guys take Viagra." I feel confident about making jokes seeing as my Kurisynchron still has one more trick. "I draw; next I activate the final effect of the Kurisynchron in my graveyard! Now I can banish him in order to special summon 1 Synchron from my deck with a lower level than Kurisynchron's!"

"But wait, your Kurisynchron's level is 6." 

"Yup which means I now get access to every Synchron in my deck but for this situation, I know exactly who to get, I summon Quickdraw Synchron!" (Level: 5/ATK: 700/DEF: 1400)

"What an interesting looking creature, if I lived in the old west."

"Funny I thought that's where you grew up but I digress so let's focus on Quickdraw's effect."

There is now a large wheel with a picture of all Synchron Tuner Monsters on it in front of Quickdraw.

"You see Quickdraw can be used in place of any required Synchron tuner!"

The wheel is now spinning rapidly in front of Quickdraw but that doesn't bother him, without even blinking Quickdraw fires and hits target perfectly.

"Now I'm going to use him in place of Turbo Synchron!"

Quickdraw fires his pistol, with each shot he begins to fade more and more away and after 5 shots he vanishes entirely and the bullets turn into 5 big green rings. Kuriboh then jumps into the middle of these rings and in a burst of light, (5+1=6) "I Synchro summon Turbo Warrior (ATK: 2500/DEF: 1800)!"

"I've got to say, I love Hot Rods but I fail to see how he's gonna help you." 

"Simple, Turbo Warrior isn't affected by the abilities of level 6 or lower monsters, which means he can't be banished next turn thanks to Trick King, plus he's strong enough to do this, Turbo Warrior attack, Axel Slash!"

Turbo Warrior revs up his engines. He is now flying through the air at Trick King. He is now jabbing his claws into Trick King's gut. (2800-2300)

"You combined your best possible defense with your best possible offense, not bad."

"That's just what it means to duel. I set 1 card face down and end my turn."

"Attention Benjamin Canton Beach, you are surrounded, end the card game and come over here with your hands above your head."

We both look over to the entrance to the cemetery and see several black cars facing us. The doors are open with the windows down. It's dark but I can make out the sight of guns pointing at Beach.

"Oh my," Beach still sounds like this is all a game to him; he just sounds louder so everyone else can hear him. "Has the big bad FBI found us? I wonder how you bumbling buffoons figured out where we we're." 

"It was easy!" The middle car's back right door has just swung open and Vanessa is jumping out.

"Ms. Aaronson, please get down."

"Oh please," she seems confident, "anyone who's crazy enough to use a card game to take over the world wouldn't even think about carrying a gun."

"Oh and why wouldn't I?" This isn't good; I think that last statement got on his nerves.

"If you have the ability to make playing cards act as weapons then why would you bother wasting money on a gun?" This isn't good, Vanessa's mocking him and it seems to be annoying him.

"You know Ms. Aaronson, when I first started looking into you as a possible puppet I thought you were an idiot who was attracted to bad boys but now I'm starting to get the feeling you're actually quite clever, maybe a little too clever for your own good." 

This isn't good, all he has to do is talk and she's done for. "Vanessa, you've got to get out of here, right now!"

"Like anything's actually going to happen to me while you two are playing your little game."

"Oh on the contrary, in fact little Vanessa I'd say your role is done!"

Oh no, since she just heard that she now has to kill herself!

"Ms. Aaronson, are you alright?" As Mustang asks that, Vanessa closes her eyes and- wait a minute did she just sneeze!

"Sorry, I think I caught a cold from being on top of that skyscraper."

"Wait, but, what the-"

"Oh god," he's laughing! Beach is laughing like this is the funniest thing. "I can't do this, I can't do this. You see Ms. Aaronson, I told little Chase over here that if I told you to, you would blow your brains out with a smile on your face!"

"What kind of sick nut job are you?" Out of another car come's Kai and Toni, Toni being the one who just said that as both of them are coming to Vanessa's side.

"Oh come on its funny! Chase is like eight inches taller than me, and probably has all real bones, yet I was able to get him to do exactly as I wanted, all because I got him to believe that I was going to make an annoying girl, who he claims to not even like, die!"

"You are a sick bastard!" I am tired of this! "You've got everyone in the DA's office afraid that there's an evil cult that can pick them off whenever they want! You turned the lives of seventeen people, including women and a child, just so you can do something that basically makes you the definition of crazy. To top it all off you have the ability to control people and, make them do whatever you want, yet you chose to just play head games and have your little army off themselves!"

"Oh my," he just got serious; "you're not having fun anymore, are you?" 

"What do you think?" 

"I think I did a few things that ruined are fun together. I admit maybe it was wrong of me to make you think that I could make your fan girl put a gun in her mouth and maybe it wasn't right of me to sedate you before buying you a drink first but I digress. I am truly sorry for how I've treated you and from this moment forward I will be serious."

"Chase, he's starting to sound like a bond villain." Kai's right, incidentally I think I'm in trouble.

Beach

"My draw, which means I get Sinister Serpent back to my hand."

"Wait, he's using banned cards!?" 

"Yes Ms. Sorentino, I'm using banned cards and I'd appreciate if you hold back next time you have the desire to state the obvious."

Everyone's starting to look scared.

"Now then, I play the equip-spell Geass Sword!" A long gold sword has just materialized in the Trick King's hand and he's now pointing it at Turbo Warrior. "Now then, Geass Sword will double Trick King's ATK points!" (2000-4000) This is not god. "Also, the turn this card activated, you can't activate card effects! Now Trick King, destroy his Turbo Warrior, Geass slaying slash!"

The sword, the sword is glowing light purple! It's so bright I'm squinting but I can still see Trick King's sword slash right through Turbo- "ahhh!" The energy was so powerful it flung me all the way across the cemetery and against a brick wall.

"Chase," yells a scared Vanessa, "are you ok?!" (2000-500) 

"I can stand if that's what you mean." 

"Not for much longer, now I activate the second effect of Geass Sword, now because I destroyed a Synchro monster, I get to draw another card. Next I set one card and end my turn."

Chase

"My- draw," I think that flinging may have broken a rib or two. "I play E-Emergency Call; this card lets me add Elemental HERO Bubbleman to my hand! Now, because he's the only card in my hand, I can special summon Bubbleman (ATK: 800/DEF: 1200) in defense mode! Plus, since I have no cards on the field I get to draw two more." Shit, none of these have the ability to turn this game around. "I end my turn!"

Beach

"My draw, next I play the trap card Sixth Sense! Now a number will appear in front of us, if it's a five or a six, I get to draw five or six cards respectively but in the event the number is one through four, then I will have to mill that number of cards."

"That card doesn't sound too overpowered," says Vanessa.

"Just watch," says Toni, "that card is considered so overpowered, it's never even been released in English."

Here comes the number… "A three, looks like you now have to mill three cards from the top of your deck!"

"Figures, lady luck and I aren't on speaking terms." He's beginning to mill his three cards. "Oh, it would appear, lady luck is willing to give me a call and it's one I've been waiting for a long time!"

"I'm sorry but did you miss the part where you just had to give up the top three cards of your deck?"

"Exactly and one of the cards I sent is a card that truly represents my families legacy because it reveals its greatest strength while it's at its lowest point!"

Suddenly, a bunch of…what looks like giant stone pillars are coming out of- not just the ground but from the walls of the surrounding build- I'm falling! I'm falling into a big black hole- "ow!"

"Oh my, did you hurt yourself?" Beach is standing in front of me while I'm on my ass on a hard concrete floor.

"Where are we?"

"Look around, it should look familiar."

As I get up, I look around. Where ever we are, there's nothing distinctive about this place- wait a second…we're standing next to a big metal door…we're next to water! "We're back in the sewer, but how?"

"Easy, the field spell I was forced to mill can activate itself from the graveyard so long as it wasn't sent from the field. The name of the card is underworld tunnel and it's one of the few cards in my deck that isn't banned and/or made via Geass."

"So then how come I've never heard of it?"

"Because it's a one of a kind card that only I have?"

"At this rate you're just going to start playing cards made of pure gold."

"I'll have you know that it was this card that started it all for me." 

"You mean it's the card that made your hair fall out?" 

"Very funny, but follow me. I've got something to show you."

"Wait…isn't this just an illusion?"

"It would appear not, mind you, this is the first time I ever used this card while I had Geass activated." 

"So basically we were teleported half away across the city all because of a card combo?"

"We'll know in a minute." As he say's this, he walks towards the door and…it looks like he's pushing buttons on a lock.

"Wait a minute…this is the exact same tunnel where I found you're…I guess lair would be the proper term in this situation."

"Ironic isn't it, my physical life is about to end where its greatest change began." Suddenly, the door swings open and Beach walks through. I follow him inside and begin to look around. It looks exactly the same, from its white walls to its filing cabinets full of brains.

"OK that's it, now it's my turn for some questions. First and for most, why do you have a white circular room that has "I saw the Truth" written in blood on the ceiling and a bunch of filing cabinets filled with cut up brains?"

"I have no idea." 

"What do you mean you have no idea? It's not like all this stuff just put itself in here."

"For all I know it might have. After all, I'm the second person to use this room." 

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's very simple," he's now leaning against one of the filing cabinets and he sounds like he's about to flashback to something happy. "When I was about twenty years old I received a letter in the mail. Inside that letter were Underworld Tunnel and a map, nothing else, just a map. I was down and out of my luck at the time and I figured following the map would be a nice distraction."

"You decided to just follow a random map, which you just happened to receive, into the sewers of New York City?" 

"Do you have any idea what my life was like before Geass? My Great Grandfather was a genius; believe it or not he actually invented a type writer to be used by the blind"-

"Can we move this history lesson along?" 

"Alright fine Mr. Pushy, to sum it up like this; my great grandfather's greatest accomplishment was his design of the New York City Subway system. Once he brought it to city hall, it was an instant success. He went from small time inventor from Massachusetts, to one of the richest men in the city. He dedicated his entire life to building these tunnels and for years he lived in the lap of luxury until one day."

"Let me guess, he gambled it all way." 

"No you little bastard!" I think I've gotten him angry. "At the time, the Kings of this city were scum and when they were thrown out of there counting houses; they took my Great Grandfather down with them. He never had to go to jail like they did but he suffered plenty. He lost his home, money and the respect of this god forsaken city. He and his family had to move back to a small mud puddle back in New England where he lived another ten years before dying a cold miserable pneumonia death.

My family has spent the past 150 years just barely scraping buy, so when I got that map, I knew it was crazy but I could use a little crazy in my life.

"So what is this then, you had a crappy life thanks to some douchebags bag in the late 1800's so you decide to get back at the world by messing with it?"

"That's one way of looking at it. Oh, while we're here, since you're file says you get involved in a lot of mischief. One of these drawers is empty. The name written on it is Ivanov; does that mean anything to you?" 

Oh shit, "no, not really?" Figures who ever used to have this room would want Ivanov's brain in this collection, especially because hers already came pre jarred. "Didn't it bother you when you found this place? I mean it's got your ancestor's name written on a drawer full of grey matter?"

"Had I entered this room when I was a simple fool like most people maybe, but once I found the entrance to this place and opened the door, I was never the same again." 

"Let me guess, you were bitten by a radioactive rat?"

"You're guess, is as good as mine."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Out of smart remarks are we? Well then, the truth is, that originally the door to this room was so rusted and brittle that all I had to was push hard and went down, bear in mind, this is when my hip was made of bone."

"TMI"

"Fair enough, but after the door fell, everything changed. When that door fell over…I…I swear I saw an angel!" Now he's shouting happily as he begins to literally dance around the room. "I know it sounds crazy but it's true, in front of me that day was a tall porcelain skinned Angel with green hair." I'm officially freaked out, partly because he sounds like he's talking about a mutant and partially because he looks like he's dancing around the room like a Ballerina. "The Angel never said a word to my face, instead, all it did was put its hand on my forehead and suddenly, I felt power surge through me like a flash light with a new battery in it. It was so much power, I instantly lost consciousness. When I awoke several hours later, the angel was gone. I instantly began examining the room and found myself as disturbed at all this as I imagine you did when you found your way in here a few days ago. After I found myself disgusted I made my way out of this place. When I got out, it was the middle of the night and when I tried to flag down a cab, the driver said he was done for the day, when I told him I really needed the ride, a certain little gift the angel gave me kicked in and the rest is history."

"It's not history, it's wrong. I get it, once you got this Geass power from the…angel, you decided to get your revenge. You used it to give yourself all the things you thought you and your family had been cheated out of for decades. When that wasn't enough for you, you decided to use your power to scare and mess with fat cats, I don't mind that but people are now dead because they found themselves in the middle of your crazy ass fantasy and the body count almost included five more today!"

"I guess your right but there is one more thing I forgot to tell you."

"What, you're an alien?"

"No of course not. You see every time I use my Geass I can hear a voice." 

"A voice… in your head?" 

"You look like I just sprouted another head but what I say is true. Every time I use Geass I can hear a voice in my head that isn't mine or anyone else's. I can only imagine it's the Angel from all those years ago and do you want to know what it tells me?"

"I think I'm afraid to know."

"The voice told me to Ascend!" He's practically shouting this. "Every time I use my gift, I can hear the Angel's voice telling me to Ascend! I have the power of a King yet every time I use that power, I am reminded just how small I am. That's why about a year ago; I began using my endless resources so I could find any clues of Geass. There isn't much but I did find an old Germanic tribe story. According to the legend, the only way for one who has powers blessed by the gods to be able to die in peace, is to give the power of the gods to a worthy successor."

"Wait, so this is suicide?"

"Oh come on, listen to what I'm telling you! This was a primitive culture that interpreted Geass as Divinity and turned it into legend. Every legend has a grain of truth in it. Which can only mean one thing, when one gives up there Geass to someone of worthy intelligence there soul can exist outside their body!"

"What the hell have you been smoking!? You have no idea if you can actually give up your Geass and even if you can, that is bull shit and I refuse to be a part of it!"

"I'm not giving you a choice in the matter!" What the, the whole room just started shaking! "Now the effect of underworld tunnel activates, we each summon monsters from our decks to the field until we each control five but in the event all the monsters on one side of the field are destroyed, then that player loses the duel!"

"You plan on ending it this turn, don't you?"

"Bingo, now I'll summon my monsters first and just so you know, you get to ignore all summoning conditions and all monsters summoned through this effect have their own effects negated! Now then, I summon Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500), Dark Magician of Chaos (ATK: 2800/DEF: 2600), Victory Dragon (ATK: 2400/DEF: 3000) and Makyura the Destructor! (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1200) Now it's your turn to bring out your strongest troops."

This isn't good; he's got five monsters on the field, one of which has 4000 ATK points. The strongest monster in my deck is Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode with 3000 ATK points. That can take out most of the monsters on Beach's field but with only 500 life points left; Trick King can easily beat Stardust and me. There's only one strategy I can think but it's one of hell of a long shot.

"I'm waiting."

"All right fine," here goes something. "In defense mode, I summon Elemental HERO's Bladedge (ATK: 2600/DEF: 1800), Captain Gold (ATK: 2100/DEF: 800), Necroshade (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1800), and Avian (ATK: 1000/DEF: 1000)!"

"So that's how you want your last duel as an ordinary man to end, surrounded by your Elemental HEROs. I admit, these monsters have served you well but after this, you will realize just how weak they are!"

"What about my face downs, aren't you afraid of those?"

"They can't hurt my Trick King! Now then Victory Dragon melt his Bladedge!" Victory Dragon's flames are bright gold, so bright that Bladedge disappears in the light. "Up next, Makyura the Destructor slash his Captain Gold to pieces!" Captain Gold tries to jump away but Makyura is twice as fast and his claws are sharp enough to go right through Captain Gold and his armor. "I think I'll have Dark Magician of Chaos obliterate your Necroshade!" Dark Magician of Chaos fires a large bowl of black energy that engulfs and destroys Necroshade. "Let's pop that bubble, shall we Chaos Emperor Dragon!" Chaos Emperor Dragon is making the air around him turn into purple energy and as he lets out a large roar, the energy is released as a powerful stream and with that Bubbleman is gone. "Now then, look at yourself, a young man with powerful dueling skills and the smarts to outwit authority but all it took was a little old man with some rare cards to strip you of your best cards and to leave you with a weak, powerless, overgrown Pigeon but don't worry, I'll rid of you of your weakness and make you unstoppable, Trick King, end this!"

The Trick King is raising his sword high in the air and is now glowing an ominous purple. The Trick King then swings his sword downwards and the purple energy is heading straight for us. I can feel the power and I know that if it were to hit me, it could kill me but luckily it isn't going to hit me! 

"Sorry, but you should have thought it about it when I asked you about my face downs."

"What could you possibly play that can stop my Trick King?"

"I'm not stopping your Trick King; I'm saving my Avian with the power of HERO Shield! Now by equipping this card to Avian he can't be destroyed by battle plus by destroying Hero Shield at the end of the damage step, I get to draw one card for every 1000 point difference between Avian and Trick King, which means I get to draw three cards!"

"So you used a weak monster to replenish your hand, I doubt you drew anything that can actually help you, so I'll set a face down and end my turn."

Chase

Unfortunately he's right, I only drew one of the two cards I needed and with five insanely powerful monsters across from me, it's now or never. "I draw," it's never but not for me! "I play O – Over Soul, now I get to select one Elemental HERO normal monster in my graveyard and I've got the perfect one in mind! I summon Elemental HERO Sparkman!"

"2 weak normal monsters, I'm not scared!"

"You should be, because next I play HERO Flash!" The blood writing on the ceiling has now been replaced with a much more exciting word, HERO! "Now thanks to this unstoppable card, I can banish H – Heated Heart, E – Emergency Call, R – Righteous Justice and O – Over Soul in order to special summon Elemental HERO Clayman from my deck!" (ATK: 800/DEF 2000)

"So now you have 3 weak normal monsters." 

"I don't have 3 weak normal monsters; I have 4 unbeatable HERO's because next I summon Elemental HERO Burstinatrix!"(ATK: 1200/DEF: 800)

"I'm shaking!" 

"You should be, because now HERO Flash let's all Elemental HERO normal monster's attack directly!"

"Wait- but that means Avian was your key card the whole time!"

"Yup, your power hungry and insane, I knew you'd instantly want to destroy my more powerful monsters first so I figured Avian was a safe bet because you'd forget all about him but you're going to remember this, Elemental HERO's attack!" 

"You're not the only one with set cards! I play Last Turn!"

"More banned cards."

"My last Banned card, because now we both select 1 monster either on the field or in our decks, we get to ignore the summoning conditions and special summon them to the field, the 2 monsters then battle and whichever monster is left standing wins the duel for its owner its owner! I will select Trick King!"

"You don't quit do you? Fine, I summon Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode!" (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500)

"Let the battle begin!" As he says this, Trick King, lifts his sword and once again releases a blast of purple energy at Stardust. In response Stardust fires a blast of white energy that collides with Trick King's attack. At first Trick King's blast is pushing back Stardust's. "With 4000 ATK, my monster is the winner!"

"Not quite!" Suddenly Stardust's blast begins to push back Trick King's.

"What the, what the hell!" The blast is now inches away from Trick King's face.

"I had one last card to play, honorary HERO! This card lets me tribute monsters on my side of the field and give there ATK to 1 other monster I control!" 

"But wait that means Stardust's ATK is"-

"7600 ATK which is more than enough to destroy your monster, Stardust Dragon, attack, ultimate cosmic burst!"

"Then it's over! Trick King can't be removed from the field but he can't be destroyed by battle which would normally mean the duel would end in a draw except there's one last effect of Geass."

"What now?" 

"In the event of a draw, the one controlling Geass loses the duel and the winner of the duel receives the loser's Geass." 

Winner: Chase Loser: Beach

"Wait, why would you make a card that causes you to lose the duel?"

"Isn't it obvious, you needed to prove yourself worthy of Geass so I can escape this body, and the only way for you to do that is to beat me even though I played at my best?" 

"Wait, that's not what you said when we started!" 

"That was a lie, I do that from time, but all that's now in the past now that the duel is over, it's too late to run!" He's laughing, he's actually laughing as the purple energy engulfs his body "Thank you Chase, thank you for letting me ascend!"

The purple energy, it's caused Beach to fall down flat on his face and- and its coming straight for me! I try to run but, no it just flew into my eyes!

I can feel it, as I drop to the floor I can feel my eyes burning, no, not just my eyes, it feels like every part of me is burning. I scream out in pain but no one can hear me! Dear God, someone make it stop, just someone make it stop!

No, I don't want it to stop. I may have felt scared at first but now, now I feel the power. The power of the King, the ability to do anything and control anything is mine! This is amazing, this power is all mine and there's nothing in this world that could ever make me want to give it up!"

"Chase."

"What was that?"

"You haven't forgotten have you Chase?"

What's that voice?

"Do you remember Chase?" It's a girls voice I can tell that much "Do you remember what you promised me?" Is it Mom again, no to young, maybe Vanessa, Toni? "You haven't forgotten, have you?"

"No, no I haven't."

"You promised to change the world for me and make those with power pay for what they've done."

To change the world and to make those with power pay for what they've done, all for her, all for one person. This power, it's a symbol; it's a symbol of those who use power to twist people's lives.

"I will not let this power control me! Stardust Dragon, Elemental HERO's, Synchrons, all my monsters please lend me your strength! Please give me the power I need to rid the world of things like Geass!"

…

The next morning, the FBI Agents found the young man, alone, in an empty, white room. Some said it looked like there had been something in the strange room but they put all their attention into saving the young man. He wasn't physically injured and when he woke he told he thought it was best to simply tell his friends and allies he won the, saving himself from having to explain what made him the first person to ever resist the temptation of Geass- oh wait…make that the second person to ever resist the temptation of Geass.

Now as I stand here with the end of the world about to begin, I think back to that young man and I believe that it was on that day that he realized that the madness he had now uncovered was not over it was only beginning.

Next Time: FBI Special case Division

No, out of everything that's happened to me, this can't be happening!


	35. 35 FBI Special Case Division

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

Chapter 35- FBI Special case Division

By

By Kevin Jones

Can I let you guys in on a secret? It's been about a week since all that King's Championship crap ended but I haven't stopped thinking about it. Not the whole, "I'm going to use evil magic so I can become a ghost because my family got screwed over 150 years ago." What bothers me is Geass. Beach was crazy powerful but he really didn't know anything about his power. He knew what he could do with it but he didn't really know where it came or why he had it. Somebody needed him to find that room and someone, or something, gave him Geass as a reward for letting someone… or something out. Which means whatever gave him that power is still out there and if one Geass can do all the damage this wacko did, I don't even want to imagine what a few more guys with it can do. I have a bad feeling this isn't the last time I'll have to deal with Geass.

I also can't stop thinking about the room. The FBI now has the room and that whole tunnel blocked off but I doubt they'll be able to find out anything of any real significance. It's a room full of brains with creepy writing on the sealing, whoever went through the trouble of doing that, god knows how many years ago, probably isn't going to screw up and leave evidence.

With Arcadia, when it was all over, it felt over. Ivanov was dead and all the kids got to go home. Here I knew nothing going into this and as of right now, I still know nothing. That being said, in 1 month I dealt with a women who was just a brain in a jar, and then a guy who had a whole room fall of brains in jars, there's no way these 2 things aren't related, question is how.

I guess the real problem I have is that Beach was able to give me his Geass. Me winning the duel was all part of his plan which basically means he succeeded and I almost-…it's hard to explain. The power felt…intoxicating, at first it felt almost like every inch of me was burning, but not like fire, almost like, like every cell was screaming in agony. But then- it was like even though I knew this was evil, I wanted it. This power corrupted me just like it did Beach. Everything I've done in life couldn't stop that power from getting to me and at last minute it was her memory that saved me.

"Will you please stand up straight?"

There are 2 other things that are bothering me right now, one of which has blond hair, no soul and is walking next to me as I head for the Headmasters office. "Considering what's happening right now, I'm pretty sure I'm allowed to slouch."

"Don't be such a drama queen. Sheesh, and I thought a girl on her period could wine."

"I am angry."

"More like self-absorbed, I kept your spiky pet hidden for over an hour and when I tell you this, what do you say. No, out of everything that's happened to me, this can't be happening!"

"It's true."

"You have a facility cheek mark on your left and a neck scar on your right. I think you've dealt with worse."

"This is serious, I'm getting a roommate!"

"You had a roommate, the same roommate for years and we both know what that relationship was like." This could be good for you." 

"How on earth can having some moron in my room, in any way be beneficial?"

"Well look at what having a clean new mattress in your room did for us."

No one read into where this conversation is going. "Will you be quiet, someone might walk by." 

"Oh please, it's a nice day out. Nobody is gonna be caught dead in the main hall way so you and I could do whatever we want."

I swear she's being annoying; we did nothing on the new bed. "That's insane." 

"No what's insane is that you only contributed twice. That last round I had to do all the work."

Oh crap, she's kissing my neck…oh crap that feels nice, she's right over the artery and- "stop it!" Listen everyone; me and Millay have a hard on relationship- I mean hard relationship to understand.

"All right fine, but once your new roomies around, it's going to be a lot harder to have afternoons like this one again."

"Like what again?" What the- we just turned the corner and there standing in front of Dewint's door is Vanessa and Toni.

"What on earth are you doing here?" That comment was directed at Vanessa.

"Sorry Millay" starts a happy Vanessa, "that's classified."

Uh-oh that little remark just struck a nerve with Millay because if there are 2 things that can quickly get on Millay's nerves it's not getting answer's she wants and Vanessa.

"Oh what's wrong?" Vanessa has a devilish smirk on her face and is speaking in a mocking tone. "Is there something the queen bee of this school doesn't know?" I smell courage coming from Vanessa and irritation coming from Millay. I sense a cat fight on the way.

"I have no problem not knowing certain things." Millay is pissed and it is not because of me for once. "My problem is with the fact that there's a Facility rat on a freshly buffed floor."

Oh shit.

"Are you trying to tell me something?"

Toni's mad; I should step in shouldn't I?

"I'm just saying an upside down triangle on the cheek clashes with an orange hoodie."

"You want something that'll clash, how about a black eye with a bloody nose!" Oh crap, Toni's heading for her. 

"Girl's, girl's calm down!" What the hell is going on here? Now Mustang and Kai are walking down the same hall way that we came down!

"That being said, if you two still want to fight, let me at least video tape it so I can make some money off it."

"OK; Vanessa's here, Toni is here, Mustang is here and Kai is trying to make money, what's going on here!?"

"Think about it Chase," as Mustang say's this he walks towards the principles door. "Your 3 friends, who which you have shared amazing adventures with, as well as a super cool FBI Agent are here the same day you find out your new roommate is here which is also the day you find out about your new roommate. If you think about it, there's only one logical conclusion."

"Could someone please tell me what's going on here?" 

Millay is clueless- wait a second…clueless, "Oh shit!"

"You figured it out," as Mustang say's this, he opens the principles door… and spinning around in the principles chair is-

"Bro, we're going to be roommates!"

It's Damon, the idiot blond haired kid from the Arcadia School. Dear lord, kill me now.

"Where's my Grandfather," asks Millay.

"He's over at our new office signing some papers." As Mustang says this, we all walk into the office and close the door.

"Why on earth are you here?" Now, not only am I standing straight, I'm getting increasingly annoyed.

"They haven't found my parents yet, so they decided to pair me up with you."

"But why- what good will it do anyone to make me your baby sitter!?" 

"Simple," starts Mustang, "you keep causing trouble, and he's been nothing but trouble. With this solution we get to keep both trouble makers in the same place."

"But who's going to pay for him to be here?!"

"The government, now that Obama Care's been over turned, after 30 years of debate; the governments got a lot of saved up money it wants to spend. Damon's tuition is covered until he either gets reunited with his family, graduates, flunks out or gets expelled." 

"But even still, it makes no sense for me to get him. Why don't you give him to Kai, he's the oldest." 

"My building only allows for 2 people per apartment and we're already bending the rules with my roommate's girlfriend staying with us." 

"What about Toni, her family's actually around so at least there'd be an adult in the house!"

"You think between running a restaurant as well as raising 2 kids in Brooklyn, my parents want to have another kid to feed." 

"What about Van-..." ok I know already that wouldn't work. "Millay don't you have a problem with this?"

"Not really, I may not know what's going on here but I know you have an empty bed in your room and the state's willing to pay for this kid to fill it."

I grab Millay by the arm and pull her out of the room and around the corner. "You can't actually be serious about this; don't you remember how he was around you last time?" 

"Who is this kid again?"

I've entered the twilight Zone. "Think back using that oh so bizarre brain of yours. Me, Vanessa and Damon we're arrested by sector security after you dueled Damon!" 

"That was his name? I don't why but I thought it was Joey."

"Joey…you thought his name was- you know what never mind. Don't you remember how he was; Flirty, in your face, annoying."

"I'm 16, blond, and I wear a C-cup, I'm used to guys being flirty and annoying. At least if this kid does anything wrong I know you'll be right there to save me." 

"That's your logic."

"Pretty much yeah, let's head back to the room."

I sadly walk back.

"So what time does the party begin tonight?" What did I just hear Vanessa say? 

"What party," as Millay says this, everyone realizes we're back in the room.

"Remember when I said the head master was at our new office?" 

We nod, though I have a bad feeling about where this is going.

"Well thanks to you little children, my bosses down in D.C. have decided to permanently transfer me and my whole division to good old Manhattan."

"I thought we were in New York," says Damon.

"What's so special about here?" I need to think of a way out of this. 

"Let's look at the month of October for a second. First you went snooping into a school of psychic children who were trying to take over the world, Followed by you and your friends becoming participants in a tournament led by a murdering mad man. All this has lead the people who sign my pay checks to believe that you are either an evil duel magnet or there's something very odd going on in this city and right now, I'm the best guy available for dealing with oddities such as you.

Now tonight is the welcome party at our new office and since I feel our division will be dealing you 5 a lot, you're all required to come so you all can familiarize yourselves with the people who'll be cleaning up your messes."

"We already met your division and either way I have plans tonight."

"First of all we have more than seven people and second, as the main chaos bringer, if you do not come to this party, which you get free food, I will put you under house arrest until all 20 people in the division feel confident that they know you."

"Does anyone care about what I want?"

At the same time everyone says, "No."

…

Today is the opening day of the first Bojangels' chicken restaurant to open up north of the Mason-Dixon line in decades. Now for those of you who don't know, Bojangels' is the greatest chicken restaurant on the face of the earth. (KFC and Chick-fil-A died out during the franchise wars)

Now don't get me wrong, I love Hot Dogs and Hamburgers as much as the next guy but truly good fried chicken is a rarity and I've been waiting for this place to open since june but instead of enjoying a piece of fried heaven right now, I'm stuck on the twentieth floor of some mid-town office building, eating cheap deli sandwiches.

"Boy there sure are some interesting people here."

I want my chicken.

"I'm sure they are Vanessa, and right now, a bunch more "interesting people" are in our homes looking for things that will tell them everything they need to know about us."

I want my chicken.

"Toni, if they were actually in our homes right now do you really think they'd let us roam freely on their floor. Well me and Vanessa are roaming freely, you've spent the whole night stuffing your face here at the refreshment table."

I want my chicken. 

"I missed lunch today because of all this Damon insanity. Either way Kai, you said the other day that since this was your first Monday off since getting out of the facility, you had plans?"

I want my chicken. 

"I did have plans. You see before I got locked up, my favorite strip club had lap dances for half price on Monday nights. Before heading over to the school, I went over to where it used to be to see if my favorite stripper was still working there only to find out that it closed back in June and there's now some fast food chicken joint in its place."

I want my- wait did he just say what I think he just said? 

"Man, are you blunt."

"Millay," Vanessa's getting annoyed, "why exactly are you here?"

"I was invited."

"No Millay. Me, Chase, Toni and Kai we're invited. You just followed us here."

Oh shit Millay is smirking, we need to run. "It's not like I originally planned to come here. Chase and I had a date tonight, in fact we had already begun our, that was until you and your hot headed side kick over here ruined it." Oh shit she's hugging me. I feel like I should be moving but she's got a strong grip on me.

"Why do I doubt that? Either way get your hands off him."

"Why, what are you going to do about this?"

I can't get loose and I'm afraid if I say something they'll start arguing in a crowded room.

"Just let go of him. He look's tired anyways."

Oh you have no idea.

"Wouldn't you like to know the reason for that?" Oh shit. "Earlier today- wait a second…" That's weird; Millay has just let me go and now looks confused.

"They've been working on that Bojangels' restaurant for months. How could you not have known it closed in June if you were only the facility for a few days about a month ago?"

"I wasn't arrested with Chase and Damon. I met them while I was in the Facility."

"How are you that self-centered that you completely forget about one person, who you dueled I might add, and group in someone else."

"I had a lot on my mind. But then what were you arrested for?"

What the- Kai's gone quiet. Normally he's got an answer for everything. That being said, we all agreed a while back not to question Kai about why he was in the facility. We all just figured that if he wanted us to know, he'd tell us.

"Millay," I better shut her up, "just be quiet and-"

"Hey have you guys seen Damon?"

The growing tension breaks as we look over to see Mustang walking up to us.

"I thought I wasn't supposed to start babysitting him till after I tuck him in and read him a bed time story."

"Very funny Chase, he said he was going to go look for you 5 but that was almost an hour ago."

"Exactly!" What the hell!? Damon just came up from behind the snack table and is now standing on top of it.

"Damon," says an annoyed Mustang, "get your foot out of the cake. 

Damon ignores this and says, "now that we're back in New York and I got all my buddies around me, I hereby challenge you to a duel!"

Now we're his buddies?

"Damon, I've already beaten you twice. Why on earth would you want to lose to me in front of all these people?"

"I upgraded my deck with all the cards that we're confiscated from the school!" 

"I told you 5 times not to touch those cards."

"Oh just give him 5 minutes sir." We all look over to see Hawkeye walking towards this freak show.

"All right, just give me a second to grab a Duel Disk and please get off the table."

Damon jumps off the table and turns on an orange, modern style Duel Disk.

"So," starts Toni, "you dueled Mustang earlier this day, is he any good?"

"What? Oh yeah…sure." 

Something's got Kai spooked. I wonder if-

"Chase," Hawkeye just whispered in my ear. "Could we go somewhere quiet? There's something you need to know." 

I look back at everyone else. Everyone except Damon and Millay nod at me. "This better be good."

…

Damon

"OK Damon, since you lost are last 2 duels, you can go first." 

"With pleasure, I set 1 monster and 1 card face down and end my turn." 

"That was pretty standard." As Toni says this, she makes a realization. "Come to think of it, I've never seen Damon duel, Vanessa do you know if he's any good?"

Vanessa scratches her head and scans her memory as she thinks back to Damon's duels with Chase and Millay. "Compared to you 2 and Chase, not really; Chase beat him easily and the only reason he was able to beat Millay here is because Chase helped him." 

"For once, we agree."

"Well," starts Toni, "let's just hope Damon doesn't realize Chase isn't here."

Mustang

"A typical opening move, let's see what I can do. I draw, seems like this is going to be a repeat of our last duel. I play Blaze Accelerator, now for all those who don't know, by discarding a pyro monster with 500 or less ATK points I can destroy 1 monster my opponent controls. Next I'm going to discard Volcanic Scattershot and when Scattershot is sent to the graveyard you take 500 points of damage." (4000-3500)

"Oh no you don't, I activate my trap card, Shake Vine! Now thanks to this cards effect, in the event a face down monster we're to be destroyed, I can pay 500 life points to negate my monsters destruction!" (3500-3000)

"Not bad," starts Millay, "he was able to save his monster."

"Not just yet," says Kai.

"Now my Volcanic Scattershot's second effect activates. If he's sent to the graveyard via the effect of Blaze Accelerator I can send the other 2 Volcanic Scattershots in my deck to the graveyard and destroy every monster you control!"

"Then I'll just pay 500 life points to save my monster!" (3000-2500)

"If only it were that simple," says a quiet Kai.

"Now the effect of each Volcanic Scattershot activates! Now you take 500 life points for each Scattershot that was sent to the graveyard this turn." 

"OK so that's 2 Scattershot's and I take 500 points for each…which means…"

"You can put your fingers down," starts Vanessa, "you lose 1000 life points." (2500-1500)

"Well at least someone can count. I end my turn." 

"Good which means now the second effect of Shake Vine activates! During your end phase I can destroy it and flip summon my set monster! Now allow me to introduce you to Bulbasaur!" (ATK: 100/DEF: 100)

"He's playing the Saur build!?" Both Toni and Kai looked shocked while Vanessa and Millay look confused.

"What's the Saur build?"

"It explains his move," begins Toni, "the Saur build is a series of plant type monsters that while there face-up on the field during the standby phase, they get stronger. Shake Vine may have come with a heavy cost but if Damon's deck is what it's looking like, Mustang could be in trouble." 

Damon

"I draw and next since it my stannic phase!"

"Standby phase," says Millay, "moron."

"Whatever, now I get to place Bulbasaur in my spell and trap card zone as a continuous spell card and special summon his big brother, Ivysaur!" (ATK: 1100/DEF: 1100) A green bulb is now sitting behind a green toad like creature with a flower bud on its back. "Now Ivysaur's effect activates, for each spell and trap card I control, I get to select a spell or trap card you control and negate it for the remainder of the game!" 

Suddenly, Ivysaur releases 2 green vines from the bud on its back. The vines ensnare the silver fire ball launcher and squeeze tightly.

"I get it," says a surprised Millay, "thanks to Bulbasaur not only does Damon get to special summon from his deck but since Bulbasaur goes to the spell and trap card zone as a cost for Ivysaur, he gets the effect no matter what the field looks like! Plus he still gets to normal summon a monster for extra power!"

"Like the lovely lady said, I can now summon another super cool monster straight from my hand! Now allow me to introduce you to Charmander!" (ATK: 200/DEF: 0)

"What the hell!" As Kai says this, all 4 teens become wide eyed.

"Oh yeah, I remember that little guy." As Vanessa happily remembers the little lizard, everyone else confusingly looks turns towards her.

"You've seen that thing before?"

"Yeah Toni, he used that card when he dueled Chase. Is there a problem with that?"

"That's an understatement," remarks Kai. "The Saur build consists of 3 of each Saur and the rest of the deck is plant support."

"Well when it comes to Damon…you know what, let's just watch the rest of the duel." 

"Now, Ivysaur attack!" Ivysaur fires several leaves from its back that slash at Mustang's arms. (4000-2900) "You're up next Charmander, Ember!" A small flame heads for Mustang and burns in front of him. (2900-2700) "Next I set a card and end my turn."

Mustang

"Fascinating, you found a new Saur monster… and that seems to be about it. I draw, and next I'll tribute Blaze Accelerator in order to activate, Tri-Blaze Accelerator!"

"So," starts Toni, "he was able to get around Ivysaur's effect by just getting rid of one powerful card for, based on the fact that there are now 3 weird looking cannons, for a better one."

"Exactly, now I activate the effect of Tri-Blaze Accelerator, by discarding 1 pyro type monster, I get to not only destroy 1 of your monsters but inflict 500 points of damage as well!" 

"Oh boy," remarks Millay, "all of those cannons are aiming at Ivysaur." 

"Not for much longer! I play the trap; switch Force, now I get to change the target of Tri-Blaze Accelerator from Ivysaur to Charmander!"

With that, the 3 fire balls coming from the cannon are shot at Charmander. "And in case you forgot, when Charmander is destroyed by battle, you take damage equal to his ATK!" (2700-2500) (1500-1000)

"See guys, Damon had a plan the whole time." 

"Very true Vanessa," says Kai, "however, had Damon used a normal trap, like Solemn Judgment, he would have halted Mustang's strategy and prevent what's about to happen."

"Now I activate the effect of the Volcanic Shell I just discarded! Once per turn, while he's in the graveyard, I can pay 500 life points to add another Volcanic Shell to my hand! (2500-2000) Next I'll set 2 cards face down and end my turn!"

Damon

"As to be expected, you're at the top of your game, even when facing my new and improved deck."

"If that's new and improved then I'm Maryland Monroe." Once Toni says this, she turns her head towards Mustang. "Incidentally Musty, I never thought of you as a Duelist." 

"First of all, never call me Musty again and second up until a week ago, I hadn't dueled since College. Somehow this kid got bored with DC and wanted someone to duel against. His complaining got so annoying, I blew the dust off my old deck and he hasn't left me alone since."

"Well don't worry, because after I beat you I'll be moving on to the next challenge! Speaking of which, my victory play starts right now! I activate the effect of Ivysaur, I move him to the spell and trap card zone and special summon 1 Venusaur from my deck!"

The biggest of the green toad like creatures, this one has a large flower on its back and is big enough for a grown man to ride on. As it enters the field, it focuses its large red eyes on Mustang and roars. (ATK: 2100/DEF: 2100)

"This is his one chance to win," says Kai.

"Now Venusaur's effect activates, when he is successfully special summoned, I get to destroy every spell and trap card on the field!" Suddenly, vines shoot out from Venusaur's back in all directions. The bulb and flower representing Bulbasaur and Ivysaur are smashed by 2 vines and disappear. On the other side of the field, Tri-Blaze Accelerator is smashed to pieces by a vine while 2 more rip each face down card in half. "Next for each face down card destroyed by this effect, Venusaur gains 500 ATK points for each card destroyed by his effect!"

"I get it now," starts Vanessa, "Bulbasaur initiates the strategy while Ivysaur makes conditions more ideal for when Venusaur comes out. Even though Damon's deck may be far from ideal, he has now created a strategy that has given Venusaur 4600 ATK points!"

"That's right, now Venusaur, end this duel, Frenzy Plant!" Suddenly, Venusaur begins to glow green as it raises its 2 front legs. It then stomps hard on the ground, causing spiky brown roots to come out of the ground. The roots are now heading for Mustang.

"3 things, first and for most; Vanessa, good work on figuring out the Saur build, this deck was out, and pretty popular, for years before I even remotely understood it. Second, Damon, if nothing else, I'm glad you understand some of your cards potential and third, this duel isn't over yet."

"How your field is empty and my Venusaur is unstoppable."

"True but I got all I need in my graveyard! You see 1 of the cards Venusaur destroyed is a trap called Necro Volcanic. While this card is in my graveyard, I can banish Volcanic Monsters that are also in the grave to set spell and trap cards on the field!" 

"So that means-"

"Yup, I banish 1 of the Volcanic Scattershot's in my graveyard to set the other card you destroyed."

"Sorry but you can't activate a trap the turn you set it, that I know!"

"True but this trap can be activated the turn its set while you have a monster with over 3000 ATK points on the field! Behold the trap, fair chop! Now I get to instantly make your monster's ATK 1000 points while it remains face up on the field!" (4600-1000) The roots attack Mustang but he remains unfazed. (2000-1000) "On a related note, you're monster can no longer be destroyed by card effects." 

"Works for me, I set 1 card face down and end my turn!" 

"During your end phase, I once again activate the effect of Necro Volcanic! I banish a second Volcanic Scattershot and to set Tri-Blaze Accelerator!"

Mustang

"My draw and it's about time to end this duel. I play the spell card give and draw! Now I get to special summon a monster in my hand to your side of the field. Now allow me to introduce you to Volcanic Shell! (ATK: 100/DEF: 0) Next I get to draw 1 card. Perfect, now I activate my set Tri-Blaze Accelerator."

"That won't destroy Venusaur!"

"That's why I'm going to ditch it for something you've never seem before, I tribute Tri-Blaze Accelerator in order to summon Volcanic Doomfire!" (ATK: 3000/DEF: 1800) A large red and black monster now covers the field. From his mouth, molten lava drips to the floor and his large claws are now extending from his big bulky hands."

"So that's your ace? I've never faced it before." 

"He's done," says Kai.

"Now Volcanic Doomfire, attack Volcanic Shell and end this duel!" With that Doomfire lifts its head and snaps it forward, firing a ball of lava at the small armored lizard."

"Oh no you don't I play the trap, Nutrient Y! Now because Venusaur had his points reduced, Nutrient Y restores his points back to normal!" (1000-2100)

As Volcanic Shell burns away in the ball of fire, (1000-100) Doomfire turns towards Venusaur.

"Hey, why is Doomfire now staring at Venusaur?" 

"Simple, when Volcanic Doomfire destroys 1 of your monsters by battle, I get to destroy all of your monsters and inflict 500 points of damage to you!"

"Wait but I only have 100 life points left!"

"Exactly," as Mustang says this, Doomfire creates another fire ball that turns Venusaur into ash and then that ash burns away into nothingness." (100-0)

Winner: Mustang Loser: Damon

As the holograms fade away, Damon falls backwards, lands on his rear end and crosses his legs Indian style. "Aw man, I really thought I had you this time."

"You did better, but you're deck lacks a true theme. My Volcanics all function together while your monsters just got shuffled together in just the right way." 

"Don't listen to him Damon." Says Toni as the 4 teens walk towards the boy and stand around him. 

"You did great," says Vanessa.

"Yeah but I still lost." 

"Look on the bright side," says Millay. To this, the other's become hesitant. "At least Chase wasn't here to see you lose."

"True, speaking of which, where did bro go?"

Kai, Vanessa, and Toni begin to look around. They know where there friend is, and they hope they don't have to tell Damon.

…

"So let me get this straight, Ivanov kept careful records on every single student in her school and was even having most of her students' parents followed. This made it easy to find their parents, all except Damon because he has no records?"

"That's correct, we spent weeks looking through anything we could find in that school and there wasn't anything on Damon's past, his parents or even what makes him special. He has no memory of life before Arcadia and as of right now, we don't even know what sort of ability he has that made them want him in the first place."

I look around; we're standing in a filing room filled with boxes, all of which say Arcadia on them. "So what's the plan then?" 

"Because we don't know what Damon can do, it could be risky putting him in foster care. Our superiors want him to stay with us and since we're here now, we just figured he should hang out with the 4 of you. This way he can learn to be real boy." 

"Psychic or not, he's not normal. That being said, nothing I say or do is going to convince you guys to make him go away, will it?" 

"At this rate, no."

"Then could you guys at least do me a favor." 

"What?"

"There's… a grieving mother living in Hoboken. Her name is Nadia Jennifer brown and she could use some rehab." 

"Your using what could be your one favor for a drug addict."

I ignore this. "Also, a lawyer I know named Nick Rush did some digging and was able to find a picture of her daughter before she died. Before she gets checked in, make sure she gets it."

"If that's what you want…then so be it."

…

"Chase, why do we have a pet Porcupine?"

"We don't have anything, Steve is my pet." God kill me now. I'm trying to sleep and he hasn't shut up since we got back to the room.

"Chase, who do you like better, Millay or Vanessa?" 

"They both drive me crazy." I had a roommate for years and when he left I thought things would be easier around here now there just getting more and more ridiculous.

"Vanessa's nicer but Millay looks like a girl you'd see in a movie." 

"And with the soul of someone you'd see in hell." It's not fair, why should I be punished for saving the day.

"Hey Chase, why do you play Hero's?" 

"Because it's the only deck I know how to play." Seriously why should I have to go through this crap all over again? At least Sa-

"Hey Chase."

"What?"

"I think I'm going to like living here and having all of you guys for friends."

"…Good night Damon."

Next time: Celtic Guardian OTK

"Do good in life Chase, always do good in life. We must be able to be more than the tragedies we face."

"**Wind **


	36. 36 Celtic Guardian OTK

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

Chapter 36- Celtic Guardian OTK

By

By Kevin Jones

"Do good in life Chase, always do good in life. We must be able to be more than the tragedies we face."

"Chase wake up, Chase wake up, Chase wake up!" 

The day has started like any other. I've woken up to the sound of my new alarm clock and with my head still in the pillow I'm reaching over and… Damn it! I promised Vanessa I wouldn't hit him.

"Damon, it's 6 in the morning. I don't get up until 6: 30. I have been telling you this for 6 days now, yet you seem to lack the ability to remember what I'm saying."

"But you need to hear what I just found out."

"What?" I'm going to regret this.

"Today's breakfast special is French Toast!"

I'm never wrong. "Damon, they have French Toast, or something that looks like French toast, every Tuesday."

"Really, wow, this really is a rich kid's school."

"Well then why don't you go get cleaned up and head down there while you still can?"

"Don't you want to come?" 

"I don't eat much for breakfast. You go ahead; I'll be there in a little while." 

"OK, I'll save you some toast!" With that, he picks up his things and rushes out the door.

When he shuts the door I sit up and begin rubbing the back of my neck. As I do this, Steve walks over to me from Damon's side of the room and I begin to pet the back of his head with my free hand.

"You like him don't you?"

No answer, like I'm expecting one.

"I guess it's easy for you to like him seeing as you're mostly active at night, which is when Damon chooses to be his most annoying." Seriously, every night before bed he asks me what feels like a billion questions before he eventually just zonks out and begins snoring like a jet engine.

As I'm sure you can all tell I'm not happy about now living with 2 animals. I liked being alone, my last roommate drove me crazy and from the looks of it, Damon's going to make him seem like a gift from god. Well…maybe that's not completely true.

I deal with annoying people all day long but there's something different about Damon. Ever since he's been living here, I've been having dreams about my Dad. Why, I don't know.

My Dad was a good man, he taught me about courage, right, wrong, how to duel, and those things I will never forget but that's not what I'm dreaming about.

I don't normally remember my dreams and I don't have any pictures associated with these one's but every morning since Damon's shown up I've woken up remembering this one…I guess saying my Dad used to tell me.

You know what; I'm not going to think about this anymore today. As annoying as Damon is, he's not going away and as weird as these dreams are, I refuse to ever see a psychologist. Right now there is one problem in my life that I can actually deal with and I think I know how.

…

Damon love's his new life, he loves getting to live with his best friend and duelist mentor, he loves his new pet, he loves his room, he loves getting to eat food that isn't served because it's supposed to increase brain function, and he loves getting to be around his 3 main friends as well as some of the new friends he's made since starting at Dewint.

"Good morning Damon." On his first day at Dewint, both Chase and Vanessa warned Damon that a lot of the students at Dewint wouldn't open up to a new student for a while. For the most part, that's how things were but when Damon got to 8th period History, Damon made 2 new friends almost instantly.

"Good Morning Hiromu." Hiromu Sakurada is a young Asian boy with black hair that goes down the length of his neck. His brown eyes are the same color as his tie which, like the rest of his uniform, is perfectly clean and in perfect shape and symmetry.

"Have you seen Maria yet?" Maria is a 15 year old Spanish exchange student. She has long blond hair that goes down the length of her back with most of her forehead covered by her bangs. She has blue eyes and fair skin.

"Here she comes," as Hiromu says this, Maria angrily walks to an open desk next to the 2 boys and sits down. She now has her arms crossed, eyes closed and an angry look on her face.

"What's she doing?" As Damon says this, both he and Saji begin to stare at the young woman with confused looks on their faces. 

"I think she's waiting for us to ask what's wrong."

"That or maybe she's constipated." 

"I guess that's Possible. Better yet where's our teacher?"

"Do either of you have anything you'd like to say to me?"

"Good afternoon."

"Close but no cigar Damon." 

"Oh I don't smoke."

"You know what," starts Hiromu, "I'm just going to go ahead and save us all a lot of time. Maria is something wrong?"

"Well as you both know I don't like to complain so I'll make this short and simple. I hate that scum bag, that- that no good dirty rotten waste of space, Chase Rhodes!"

Everyone around seems to be ignoring the girl's rant, a sharp contrast to Damon who now looks confused. "How could you hate Chase, he likes the coolest, most awesome duelist ever." 

"Here we go," as Hiromu say's this, Maria opens her eyes and, as if Damon just insulted her, snaps her head in his direction.

"That boy is a street rat and an anarchist. He has been nothing but rude and mean since day 1 to me." 

"What did he do this time?" Hiromu's words may say one thing but his thoughts are saying "good lord what happened this time?"

"Well 2 periods ago I had gym with the future Ricers citizen. As I said during lunch today, I'm taking swimming this gym block, so is Chase. After the class did it stretches, Mr. Phelps noticed Chase was missing, even though he had been there when class started."

"Maybe, you should lower your voice."

"Hiromu don't interrupt me. When Phelps asked if anyone knew where he was, my eyes glanced over to the bleachers. There I could see the tip of Chase's weird black spiky hair peaking up from behind the front row of seats. I then volunteered to go get Mr. Trouble Maker. When I got there he was, sleeping in between the bleachers, still fully clothed by the way. I decided to wake him up softly by just tapping him on the shoulder. When I did this, instead of slowly waking up like a normal person, he jolts up, his head slams into my chin and I fall backwards right into the pool!"

"I think it was an accident," says Hiromu, even though he knows it's pointless.

"Yeah right, when I got out of the pool, everyone was laughing at me! Phelps then told Chase to go to the Headmasters office but I could tell he probably went back to his room to finish his mid-day nap!"

"Well…look on the Brightside!" 

"What Hiromu, how could there be a possibly a Brightside to getting embarrassed, a sore chin and almost drowning?"

"Have you been listening to yourself, I've never seen you stay angry in English for so long."

"That's not-"

"You know, that's how Chase always wakes up. I keep asking him if he's having bad dreams but he won't tell me." 

Maria's angry look has now been switched with a confused one. "How do you know how he wakes up?"

"Oh didn't I tell you guys? Chase is my roommate and best friend."

"Wait," Maria is confused, "how…or why…what could possibly possess you to call him your best friend?"

"Simple, we met at my old school where I was kind of a misfit, believe it or not, a lot of people used to think of me as a dummy. When we met, I challenged him to a duel and in that duel he showed me how I can become strong! Ever since that day, Chase has been my best friend and greatest teacher. You know Maria, you should duel Chase. Maybe if you 2 duel, you can learn to understand each other a bit better." 

"I've dueled Chase before but he's never even so much as called me by name. Wait a second…what was he doing at your school in the first place? Actually why'd you transfer here or end up in the same room as him?"

"That's…a little hard to explain but anyways-"

"Quiet Damon," Maria's confused look is gone. Her face is growing a devilish smirk while an idea worms its way into the forefront of her brain. "You're right Damon. Chase and I should duel. Hiromu, are you in?"

…

"Oh my god," Vanessa sounds shocked. "Alana Thompson died!"

"Oh man," starts Toni, "wait…who's Alana Thompson?"

"I'm not sure…oh, it says here she was a reality TV star nick named- this has got to be a joke, it says her name was Honey Boo-Boo." 

"Honey Boo-boo, sounds like Winnie the Pooh's retarded cousin." 

"No it says here…that she did beauty pageants on some show called…Toddlers and Tiaras."

"OK, that just sounds like a pedophiles dream come true."

"Based on these pictures, that's for certain."

"What killed her?"

"Heart attack, oh man and she was only 33." 

"How is that even possible?"

"Well seeing as in the final picture of her alive they've got in here, I'd say she probably had every weight related disease on the planet."

What you all just heard is something no man should here, teenage girls talking about things they read in magazines. This happens every Tuesday at Barnes & Noble for 2 reasons: 1, ever since the war, and for reasons I don't quite understand, all magazines release there new weekly issues on the same day and 2, nothing brings girls together like gossip. Now every week, Vanessa and Toni partake in this stupidity and every week they ask me, Kai, and now Damon, to go with them. Kai had to work, that's always his excuse, and Damon had plans with some friends he made at the school. This just leaves me, normally I just say no but this week…well…like I this morning, I have a problem to solve.

"What are you doing over here? Why don't you go over there and do filthy things to Nes and Toni!"

OK…so how do I explain this one. Uhmmm, you see…do you guys remember about a week ago when Damon moved in? Now if you all remember correctly, Millay and I were talking about something that might have suggested that we, sort of, did some… R rated things together. Also that day, Debris Dragon came back; he had no memory of what happened that day in the sewers other than what I remember. Now the reason I didn't bring him up last time is because…well…I didn't realize that he saw Millay and I…alright I admit we had sex! I was miserable about getting a roommate and apparently Millay was feeling horny so we had hot, well maybe not hot because of a draft in my room, passionate sex on Damon's new mattress and Debris Dragon saw the whole thing. You'd expect he look away but he didn't. He watched in horror as 2 humans showed the end result of puberty. After we were done he disappeared and that was the last I saw of him that day.

"Debris Dragon, this has been going on a week, get over it." I wonder if this is what's it's like when a little kid walks in on their parents having sex.

"How can I just get over that, when I first got partnered up with you, you said there had to be boundaries, that, that being naked is something people are when there alone and that no one else is supposed to see you like that!"

"When I said boundaries, things like sex are what I was talking about. What we were doing is completely natural, it's how humans reproduce."

"What do I care about reproduction, I'm a spirit! Besides, why would you want to make a baby?" 

OK, this is why I came to the bookstore. I have tried everything to shut him up, I tried saying sex is something we all do, turns out spirits don't have sex, or reproduce, or technically have gender. It even got to the point where I said if he'd forget about it, I'd by him Ice Cream. That's right; I tried use Ice Cream bribery on something that doesn't eat. When none of these ideas worked, I decided to turn to the professionals.

I checked the school library during lunch but there was nothing on child phycology. Then, after English, Vanessa once again offered if I wanted to join her and Toni to go to Barnes & Nobles on Magazine day. At first I said no but then I realized that there are enough magazines about phycology and child care to create a forest, which brings me to right now.

"Well what's your excuse now for the depravity I saw?"

How on earth does he know the word depravity? You know what, never mind. It's time to use what I've been reading for the past 20 minutes. "Listen Debris Dragon, what you saw Millay and I doing is called making love."

"But you 2 hate each other!"

Dam I forgot that article applies for normal people. Time for plan Birds and the bees. "Debris Dragon, when a woman and a man love each other very much-"…no wait the article said not to lie. "When an evil manipulative sociopath, is obsessed with controlling someone who's feeling distraught and confused, she uses her perfect 10 body to prey on the distraught young man to further her goal of controlling him. Because of his sadness he gives into temptation and lets his basic instincts run wild."

"So sex isn't about love, or pleasure or even fun, it's just control and who gives in first?"

"Sure," I know some of you are thinking this is wrong but give me a break, I can't even sit next to a girl in class without Debris Dragon going wild."

"I just have 1 question. According to that article you showed me a few days ago; the only parts of living organism's nesciarry for sex are the genitals. If that's true then why did she put her mouth around your Pe-" 

"You know what why don't I ask a question. You comment on how beautiful you find Vanessa all the time and you do seem to pick out all the spots human men are attracted to like… her chest or her… but. This in theory means you are also somewhat attracted to human woman. So there for, shouldn't you at least somewhat find sex appealing just because of the part that involves a beautiful woman?"

"Think of it like this, humans find pugs cute right?" 

"For the most part."

"You love the cute smushed in faces, the big black eyes, the cute curly tail and of course the toy like bodies, right?" 

"Yeah," I'm afraid to know where this is going.

"Would you ever want to watch 2 pugs have sex?"

"Well no but…I guess…you know what let's try and move on with our lives." Damn it, I'm starting to understand the logic of a small ghost dragon.

"Chase is something bothering you?" Oh crap Vanessa's right behind me.

"No, I'm just fine. What would make you think something's wrong?"

"Well for starters, you've been standing in this corner since we got here, you seem to be talking to the wall and I just heard you say my name." 

Oh shit, "did you hear what else I said?"

"No you mumbled most of what you were saying, which also started to worry me, then you said my name and so I decided to approach you slowly."

"I chose to stay back here," remarks Toni.

"How brave-"

"What are you reading?" Oh shit Vanessa is looking at one of the magazines I was holding.

"It's nothing just research for a project at school."

"What class are you taking that would possibly require you to research…wait a second you dog eared a page in a magazine that you then put back on the rack, that's just wrong. Wait a second why were you reading an article on explaining the birds and the bees?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Oh shit now Toni's looking at the same article as Vanessa. "Chase was reading about male and female relations and then he said your name, it doesn't take a PHD to know what's going on."

Oh shit, Toni maybe joking but Vanessa's face is starting to turn red…that being said I have a feeling my face isn't its normal color either.

"Chase," starts Vanessa, "what's going on here?"

"I…I…" I need a distraction.

"Hey guys sorry I'm late!" Oh, Damon's here…could I have a different distraction? 

"Oh Damon," Vanessa sounds relieved, "you're here and not a moment too soon. Wait a second, Hiromu, what are you doing here?"

What the, standing next to Damon are 2 kids in Dewint uniforms. One of them is Asian and looks a little embarrassed. The other is a blond chick with a weird looking smile on her face.

"Oh, remember when I said I had made new friends at school?"

We all nod.

"Well Hiromu and Maria are the friends I was talking about and Chase, Maria has something she would like to say to you."

With that both Damon and…the Asian kid step behind Maria and as she begins to open her mouth, I begin to debate making a run for it.

"Chase Rhodes," oh shit she's doing a calm before the storm sort of voice. "For 5 years now you have been going Dewint Academy."

Oh shit, here we go again.

"In that time you have been rude and mean to everybody around you."

She better not be working for a crazy guy with psychic powers.

"Even people who have been nothing but nice to you!"

Ok this is starting to take a different turn, partially because everyone here besides the 6 of us are burying their faces in their books trying to pretend this crazy Spanish sounding girl isn't here. I should do the same.

"Damon is your roommate, and has been nothing but nice to you yet you constantly belittle and make fun of him." 

"I have chosen to stay silent." Even Damon can tell this chick is crazy.

"If that isn't bad enough you have been mean to Hiromu for 5 years and it's about time you pay for that."

OK now I'm confused. "Who's Hiromu?" 

"Are you kidding me?" Ok now she's even madder. "He's standing right next to me."

Suddenly she grabs the Asian kid by the arm and pushes him right in front of me. "When was I ever mean to you?" 

"Actually," starts…Hiromu, "you've never been mean to me, you just have…never noticed I'm alive." 

"Exactly, he's known you for years but you've never even noticed him."

"I find that hard to believe."

"Actually she's kind of right, we've had at least 1 class together since 6th grade. I was the guy in 5th period Earth Science today who put his homework on the board."

"Oh…" damn I really don't remember this guy. "What was the answer to number 3?"

"Never mind Homework, because right now we're going to give you a taste of your own medicine!"

"If you're going to give me medicine, might I suggest some aspirin because I'm starting to get a headache?"

"Enough Sarcasm, it's time to duel!"

"Duel, what's that going to do?"

"You should thank your roommate for this brilliant idea."

Figures Damon is responsible for causing me this irritation. Just like he caused this morning's irritation and he'll probably cause me irritation tonight as well. Which I think mean's Damon is basically a bad rash.

"I can explain," says the rash, "you see during gym today you accidently wacked Maria in the head when she went to go wake you up. When she told me and Hiromu this, I came up with the idea of you 2 dueling so you'd understand each other better. What do you think of that idea?"

"I think-"

"Chase, don't say anything bad. Damon's just trying to help."

I turn around towards Vanessa and say, "you cannot be ok with this?" 

"About as ok as I am with anything else you do. Besides if this is what it takes to have 1 less person in the world who hates you, I say go for it."

"But what about the rest of the people here, we can't just start a duel right here."

"It's a bookstore," starts Toni, "I think the 9 other people here would love to see some duel action."

"You're not helping." 

"Oh she's helping alright. She's helping me ensure that we kick your butt!"

"We, what do you mean by we?" I have a bad feeling about this.

"It's very simple; I have designed the perfect tag duel strategy for me and Hiromu to use. I've decided to combine getting revenge on you and testing this strategy out."

"I swear this was all her idea," says…Hiromu.

"And how does dueling me get you your revenge?"

"With an ego like yours, being beat by people you consider to be nobody's is bound to make you want to crawl into a deep hole for a few years."

"That-…" damn that actually make's sense. "OK, let's get this over with.

Chase

"Alright Chase, since it's 2 on 1, pick your handy cap," says a confident Maria.

"I don't need a handy cap."

"Are you sure?" Hiromu definitely seems more confused than excited about the situation.

"Positive, I just need the first turn."

"You've already got a plan," says Debris Dragon.

"Just watch, I draw! Next I summon Elemental HERO Wildheart, in attack mode!" (ATK: 1500/DEF: 1600) 

"That's strange," start's Damon, "Wouldn't it make more sense to set Wildheart instead, I mean he's got higher defense so if it were me I'd use him for defense since he can't attack on the first turn."

"Watch and learn Damon but for now I'm going to end my turn!"

Maria

"My draw, hah, your tattooed wild man may look tough but he can't stop my genius moves! I set 3 cards face down and end my turn!"

Hiromu

"OK now I'm confused," starts Toni, "why would she just set 2 cards? Even if you only draw trap cards, it's best not to set too many cards in case your opponent has a Heavy Storm waiting." 

"Oh you'll see why Ms.- Who are you?"

"Oh, I'm Toni."

"Oh it's a pleasure to meet you Toni."

"It's definitely been interesting meeting you." 

"Yes well, if Hiromu has the right hand, then we're all in for an interesting treat. Isn't that right Hiromu?"

"What," for the past 5 minutes, Hiromu has been looking at his cards like they're written in Chinese.

"Do you have a good hand?"

"Uhm…I think so."

"Well is the plan going to work?"

"I…think so."

"What do you mean you think so? Do you have the right card in your hand or don't you?"

"No but I haven't drawn yet."

"Then draw," seriously this is so dumb Wildheart looks like he wants to take a nap.

"I draw."

"Well did you draw it?"

"I think so."

"Oh just play it!" This may be my most irritating duel yet.

"Right then, I summon Celtic Guardian!" (ATK: 1400/DEF: 1200)

"That's old!" Remarks Damon and he's right. Celtic Guardian goes back to the very beginning of this game. He even looks old with his green body armor over his…Lord of the Ring's inspired clothing underneath.

"Now behold, I play the trap," here she goes, "Torrential Tribute! Now every monster on the field is destroyed!" 

A big wave covers the field, engulfing Celtic Guardian and Wildheart.

"Next I activate Call of the Haunted, allowing me to special summon 1 Monster from my graveyard and since me and Hiromu share 1 side of the field I can summon Celtic Guardian."

"And I can attack with him, right?"

"Yes Hiromu, you can attack with him but not before I play Inferno Reckless Summon! Now because a monster with 1500 ATK or less has just entered the battlefield, we now get to summon 2 more from the deck!"

"Uh right, so I summon 2 more, which means next I'm supposed to attack right?"

"Yes Hiromu," she's getting fired up, "attack him with 3 monsters that on their own seem week but together are enough to win this duel!"

"Right- Celtic Guardian's all 3 of you attack!"

"It's an interesting concept you guys created but it isn't going to work."

Before Hiromu can say anything, Wildheart's sword slashes through 1 of the Guardians and uses his sword to block the other 2. (4000-3900)

"What the heck!?" Arian race girl is angry. 

"In a tag duel, more often than not, 1 player controls the monsters and the other, the spell and traps. Since you said you made this strategy it meant you'd be using the key cards and since you seem to think you're very smart your key cards were most likely strategy cards which means spells and traps. Enter Wildheart, his special ability makes him unaffected by traps so I knew he could help protect me from whatever you had in store."

"Hmmm," she seems to be getting mad. "Por qué idiota! Tuvimos el plan perfecto para llegar a ser como el resto de nosotros, pero no sólo hay que ser terco no usted!"

"Oh dear she's yelling in Spanish. I better end my turn."

Chase

"Right, time to end this insanity, so I draw and next I play the spell card Polymerization, which lets me fuse the Wildheart on my field with the Elemental HERO Bladedge in my hand in order to fusion summon, Elemental HERO Wildedge! (ATK: 2600/DEF: 2300) Now if you think Wildheart was cool, then let me show you what happens when you give him gold armor! Go Wildedge, attack his Celtic Guardian."

Wildedge raises his sword and goes after the tall elf. When the 2 swords clash, the elf falls and vanishes. (3900-2700)

"Now Wildedge's ability activates, since he attacked 1 of your monsters he can attack the other 1!"

Wildedge fires a dagger from his mechanical arm at Celtic Guardian and the other guardian falls. (2700-1500)

"You have destroyed our Guardians but we still have life points let!"

"I think you mean left and not for long because next I activate the quick-play De-Fusion! Now I get to return Wildedge to my extra deck and special summon Wildheart and Bladedge! (ATK: 2600/DEF: 1800) Now Bladedge end this, slice and dice attack!" Bladedge, flies towards the 2 stooges and slashes through them with both blades.

Winner: Chase Loser: Hiromu and Maria

"Chase," starts Vanessa, "you just won without losing a single life point."

"I never doubted my deck for a second."

…

"So basically it sounds like there are 3 kinds of relationships that can involve sex."

It's about 11 pm and I was testing a non sex related theory I read about in the bookstore-…that may or may not have come out wrong. Anyways, this 1 article stated that if you take a nice long hot shower before bed you'll sleep better and hopefully if I sleep better, I won't dream about my Dad again.

"The first is a loving relationship, like in that cheesy Twilight movie."

Apparently Debris Dragon has just now rationalized sex. Hopefully if I bear this, it will be the last time I have to hear about sex from a ghost.

"The second is in a relationship where one person wants to control the other person like in you and Millay's relationship."

Well he's not wrong.

"And the third is in an opposites attract relationship like Hiromu and Maria's or you and Vanessa-" 

"Wait a second, what's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, Maria seems assertive and Hiromu seems passive-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, what about me and Vanessa?"

"Well, your mean, she's nice, she seems to be attracted to you and you seem to be attracted to her." 

"No I'm not and neither is she!"

"Then why is your face turning red?"

"Shut-"

"Something wrong?" I snap forward and see…damn it, what is this guy's name?

"No, just couldn't sleep so I thought I'd take a hot shower."

"Oh same-well I'm going to do that now…listen I'm sorry about the way Maria was today. I swear she just thought she was trying to help."

"Whatever I'm used to crazy girls screaming at me, but can I ask a question?"

"Yeah sure whatever you want."

"Neither of you seem to be duelists by nature so why'd she create such a crazy deck?"

"Oh, well you see on December 1st there's going to be a big tag duel tournament at Madison Square Garden and the host is some Spanish singer that Maria likes."

"Ah, that seems… dumb." 

"Yeah well, when she sets her mind to something there's no stopping her." 

"I've seen that before." 

"Yes well, good night then." 

"Night."

As we go our separate ways I try to forget everything Debris Dragon had to say and just hope I don't dream about my Dad.

…

I'm in a dark place, I can't see anything and it's really cold but for some reason, I can hear a voice…the voice sounds like it's saying… "Do good in life Chase, always do good in life. We must be able to be more than the tragedies we face."

Next Time: Homeless

Vanessa takes a deep breath and scurries over towards the bench her friend is sitting at.

"Hey Chase, sorry I'm late."

With that, Chase turns his head towards her and does something Vanessa has never seen him do before; smile.

"Good you made it, for a second I thought you weren't going to show."

"Well you did just out of the blue this morning ask me out."


	37. 37 Homeless

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

Chapter 37- Homeless

By

By Kevin Jones

"Do good in life Chase, always do good in life. We must be able to be more than the tragedies we face."

…

The 1969 Mustang is a legendary car. The iconic shape, the sharp colors, the power, and of course, the classic muscle car engine, but unfortunately that is also what makes the car complicated.

In the age of momentum and computer controlled vehicles, less and less people have the knowledge of how to maintain these mechanical works of art. Because of this, less and less people are buying these cars which in turn means there is less and less of a demand for the proper equipment needed to maintain the complex gas driven machines.

None of this bothers Kai. In Kai's world, there are 3 joys; number 1 is dueling, number 2 is beautiful women and number 3, working on old cars. Lately the latter seems to be the only joy of his that doesn't lead to complications.

Ever since he was a child, Kai was fascinated by old cars, so much so, that he used to sneak into garages that housed old cars just so he could examine them and learn how they worked. Getting caught never bothered him because when he would get caught, he was usually able to talk the owner of the garage into making him help out as punishment.

Once he was free from the facility and it came time to get a job, Kai hoped that there were still those who remembered his passion for cars and wouldn't care about the unusual circumstances of both his arrest and release. Luckily for him, when Stan's custom garage in lower Brooklyn needed someone who understood old cars but was also young enough to spend all day working on them, Kai knew he had his meal ticket in the bag.

"Hey Kai," Kai pulls his head out of an 8-cylinder engine and looks over at a fellow mechanic.

"What's up?" 

"You got a visitor." 

Kai looks over at the clock on the wall. It says it's about 3 in the afternoon, which means it could be one of his friends.

"Did he or she say their name?"

"No the guy just said it was urgent."

"All right I'm coming."

"Oh crap," thinks Kai. Yesterday Kai also had a visitor, that time it was Chase and all he did was ask Kai questions about homeless people. He never said why he was asking so many questions on societies shunned.

"Hey Kai, qué pasa, long time no see."

Suddenly Kai freezes, the person sitting in one of the waiting room chairs is tall and skinny, wearing a black hoodie that in flames say's quemar, the Spanish word for burn.

"You, how did you know where to find me?"

"It wasn't easy. When Rikers Facility's power went out and the whole place plunged into chaos; the whole city was glued to the news to find out what was going on or what caused it, but for us, we were more concerned about who might get out. When a guy we got on the inside said you and a couple of white kids were the only ones who escaped, we knew exactly what to think."

"That I wanted to move on with my life."

"No, that you got yourself in deep with some powerful people and if we ever heard of you again, it would be in the obituary column."

"I'm flattered, but if you all were so convinced you'd never see me again, then why search me out?"

"Even in a city this big, news can spread like wild fire. A few days ago, the boss man heard about a mysterious boy mechanic who could operate on old cars like they were simple children's toys."

"So then what is this? You're here to kill me, or beat me up, or bring me back by my hair?"

"What, no, no, Kai old buddy, there are no hard feelings from anyone towards you."

"That's not normally the way these things go."

"Times are changing; the boss wants things more…civilized." As he says this, the man gets up and starts walking toward the door. "So long as you don't bother us, we'll leave you alone. After all someone has to keep your 4 little white friends in order. New York can be such a dangerous city for cute girls and dumb boys who like to stick there nose's where they don't belong."

"Why you," as Kai says this he turns around and throws a tight fist at the man.

"Still protective of your friends I see." As he says this, the man, blocks the punch with his right hand and punches Kai hard in the stomach with his left. This causes Kai to fall back into one of the waiting room chairs. "Like I said, you kids stay out of our business and we'll leave you all alone."

With that, the man walks out of the waiting room and Kai mumbles under his breath, "Chase what have you done now?"

…

"Look at you dressed all sexy." 

"Toni cut it out, like I said I just wanted to change out of my school uniform before I head over to park."

"You never change your clothes when you and I go to places."

"First of all, it's cold; I wanted to get out of a skirt and into some pants and second, you never have the patience to let me change when we do stuff together. Speaking of which, how come when I called you to tell you about this, you just decided to come over?"

"Well I couldn't just let my best friend prepare for a hot date on her own." 

Suddenly Vanessa stops walking along FDR Drive, and turns in front of Toni with a bright red face. "This is not a date!"

"Remind me how all this started."

"For the one millionth time, Chase was silent during both History and English. Then, right when I was about to leave the building at the end of the day, Chase ran up to me and asked if I could meet him by the small park by the Queensboro Bridge at around 5. I said yes and-"

"And then you called me saying you had a huge crisis and you needed my advice."

"No I asked you if you knew what Chase was up to. You were the one who said holy crap he's finally doing it, I'll meet you at your place. You then hung up and showed up at my door."

"I came to help."

"Really, because you spent most of time raiding my refrigerator."

"Only because you wouldn't let me in the room with you."

"Why would I want you in the room while I'm changing my clothes?"

"It's not like you changed your underwear or anything…wait, did you?"

Now she's even redder. "What, no, why would you even think that." 

"Well whenever I or one of my friends has a hot date. We practically man handle her till we figure out what looks best."

"Yeah well this isn't a date."

"Based on the pink turtle neck and black jeans, if this is a date, you're not trying very hard." 

"What happened to look at you dressed all sexy?"

"I was trying to make you feel confident about a bad decision."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's not that you don't look good, you just look normal."

"This isn't a date…what do you mean by normal?"

"Well I'm just saying…you could afford to show off some of the merchandise."

"What, are you out of your mind?!" Vanessa's face could now easily be replaced by a tomato.

"Jury's still out. Either way I'm not saying go for the hooker look. I'm just saying that you're the only girl I know who doesn't own a single low cut shirt."

"So what, that's just how I dress!"

"Or what about the other day when you showed me that hot tub by your buildings pool. When I suggested we use it, you got really defensive before saying that you had homework to do."

"I did have homework!" Vanessa is now walking away from her friend.

"Hey, hey," Toni is now following her friend. "I'm not trying to sound weird or anything, I'm just saying it feels like your hiding something."

"Chase is hiding something, Kai is hiding something, and you don't bother them like this."

"Yeah because whatever there hiding is probably dangerous and is something they want to face alone. But you're different; whatever your hiding isn't something that will probably go away with a duel. Whatever you're hiding is something real and you shouldn't have to keep it all bottled up."

"There's nothing wrong with me, I just prefer to stay warm in 44 degree weather!"

"Alright fine, either way, there's your man."

Toni gestures to a small grassy area that overlooks the east River. The area has several benches facing the water and sitting on one of these benches is Chase staring intensely at the moving water.

Vanessa analyzes the strange sight. Chase doesn't seem happy, scared, excited, all he's doing is staring intensely at the water.

"Here we go," as Vanessa says this she glances back to see that Toni has disappeared, "so much for moral support."

Vanessa takes a deep breath and scurries over towards the bench her friend is sitting at.

"Hey Chase, sorry I'm late."

With that, Chase turns his head towards her and does something Vanessa has never seen him do before; smile.

"Good you made it, for a second I thought you weren't going to show."

"Well you did just out of the blue this morning ask me out." 

"Yeah well, I was originally going to ask you yesterday but I wasn't sure how to say it right."

"Well, I'm here now." These may be the words coming out of Vanessa's mouth but in her head she's saying, "Oh my god, oh my god, the way he said that. What does he mean? What if he was nervous because he was trying to ask me out!? Which means this is a date, oh god, oh no- wait a minute…making a grand assumption out of something before I actually know what's going on…oh no, I'm turning into Toni!"

"Do you have a rash on your neck?"

"What…no. Why would you think that?"

"Well you're wearing a turtle neck, so I assume you don't want people to see your neck."

"It's cold, I wanted to wear something warm!"

"Works for me."

In her head she says, "Oh my god, does he mean he's ok with me wearing the sweater or does he mean I look good!? Shut up brain, shut up!" 

"Well let's go." Chase is now standing up and is beginning to walk away from Vanessa.

"Wait where are we going?"

"It's a little hard to explain, let's just say somewhere a bit more hidden."

…

"Welcome to the East River Tunnel." I've taken Vanessa, who seems really jittery for some weird reason, about 50 feet below the East River. It's cold, wet and dark in here but that's not what I'm focusing on. Right now I'm focusing on the graffiti.

"In the month in a half I've been living in this city, I have read 8 books about the history, architecture and landscape of New York and I've never even once heard of this place."

"You can't always base everything on what you read in a book. This used to be a subway tunnel, if you don't believe me, look at what we're standing on."

Vanessa is now looking down and realizing that we're currently on old, rusty railroad tracks. "Why isn't this being used as a sewer line like the rest of the old…decaying subway tunnels?"

"Those didn't become sewers on purpose. During the war, the bad guys, AKA non Americans, used the tunnels as bases. When our guys figured this out, they started flooding the tunnels. The process was expensive and time consuming so they only did it to tunnels that they could confirm had bad guys in them, for one reason or another nobody cared about this tunnel."

Now she looks confused. "So then they just abandoned this tunnel because they didn't have a use for it anymore?"

"New York City, once this place grows tired of something, it forgets about it. Now I need you to be quiet, understand?"

"Why…do I need to be quiet?"

Why does she sound so nervous? "Because I don't want anyone to hear us, well not yet at least."

"Listen Chase, before we go any further; I just want to say that we are friends and we've gone through a lot together but I feel we should really slow down and really think about what we both want out of this relationship!" 

I knew this was a bad idea. "What on earth are you talking about?"

"This…why we're here…I don't know."

"I can see that. Now be quiet, you never know who's down here." We're going to get stabbed.

"…" Ok she's now finally quiet.

"Close your eyes and listen carefully. Ignore the sounds of dripping water…and the sound of your heavy breathing." 

"What does this do?"

"You keep claiming you want adventure which is why you keep tagging along with me. Here's your adventure, but before we start I need to show you how to notice fine details."

"By sounding like someone out of a ninja movie?"

"No, by giving you an idea of how to shut up and listen, this way you won't have to rely on me every time things get strange. Now, what do you hear?"

"…something…spraying…like from a can. You know, like an aerosol can."

"Bingo, now open your eyes and follow me." I start walking without seeing if she's following me, I'm starting to hope she doesn't.

"Chase who's that?" 

"She's the reason we're here."

Standing on top of a ladder, spray painting the wall is a little girl, no more than 12 years old with long blond curls. Her skin would normally look plain white but instead is dark and dirty.

"Who is she?" 

"From what I've heard her name is Maggie and if you look around you'll understand why she's nicknamed Michelangelo's daughter."

With that, Vanessa begins to really analyze the walls around her. As she realizes what's around us, her eyes widen and her jaw drops.

"All these walls," she says shocked, "the ceiling, they've all been painted on! It's not even just normal graffiti, these look like actual paintings!" 

"Bingo, this whole tunnel has been transformed from a creepy old piss hole into a masterpiece of birds and flames and…hand guns." I'm not joking, there's some pretty random and disturbing stuff on these walls.

"But this looks like it must have taken years."

"More like she spends all day and every day here."

"Wait, what? How do you know that?"

"That's what I've heard about this kid. She's a homeless girl who has come here every day for the past month, just painting this place with a bunch of spray cans."

"But why, what's she doing here?"

"Well let's go ask her." With that I grab Vanessa by the arm and pull her closer to the girl.

"I could hear everything you were saying." Maggie says this while still staying focused on painting red onto the outline of a giant apple.

"I didn't think you couldn't. I just wanted to show my friend here just how talented you are. Isn't that right Vanessa?"

Vanessa, still in shock by what's around her nods her head. "These are all very beautiful; you have a lot of talent."

"Thanks, what's with the turtle neck?" 

"Ok why does everyone have a problem with this sweater? It's cold, I wanted to wear something warm...wait a second you haven't even looked this way yet, how do you know what I'm wearing?"

"Around here, being able to notice 2 or 3 things at once is a necessity. Isn't that right spiky?"

"Still as girly as yesterday I see."

"Wait, you were here yesterday?" Oh boy, she sounds shocked again.

"Yes he was. He showed up, told me he had heard about my situation and wanted to buy me dinner."

"Chase, what's going on here?"

"Then he said he'd bring me back to his place and rock my world."

"Ok that you're making up!" And people say I'm disturbed.

"Yeah I am. So what's the point to bringing your girlfriend here?"

"Oh I'm not his girlfriend."

"Good thing, this is a terrible place to bring a date. Either way you don't look like the type of girl who's into bad boys-"

"Moving on," what is it with blonds and smart remarks? "I know yesterday I might have seen a little odd but today I've got a better offer."

"Oh what, you're going to give me what's in your pocket."

"No, you're going to going to spend the night at my friends place."

"Wait, what?"

"Sounds like turtle neck over here disagrees with you."

"Could you excuse us for just 1 minute?" Oh crap now I've done it.

"I'm not going anywhere." As Maggie says, Vanessa grabs me by the jacket collar and pulls me around the corner.

"What in the world are you doing?!" Oh crap she's pissed.

"Well when I came here yesterday I offered to buy her dinner and she called me a pervert." 

"And what made you think you'd get a different answer?"

"…Well looking back on it maybe I should have thought things through more."

"No duh, another thing you might want to think about is me when you make claims about things you want me to do!" 

"Look, a girl like her has been raised to be untrusting of everybody, especially of strange men."

"And you didn't realize this till after you said you wanted to buy her dinner."

"Well…yeah but…that's why you're here. You're a lot better with people, so I figured she'd be more likely to go with you than me."

"And you couldn't tell me this before like during school?"

"I also figured that she might think you're a good liar if you looked like you knew what I was up to."

"So you decided to not tell me what's going on and then to put me on the spot with something that is both dangerous and insane."

"What could possibly be dangerous and insane about a little girl and either way, you like helping people."

"She's homeless, homeless people are homeless for a reason." 

"I'm not asking you to bring home some crack addicted old guy living under the Tappan Zee. I'm just asking you to help me, help a little girl."

"Hello, look at her. If I bring her home with me, she's going to kill me and steal everything."

"Oh come on, you're twice her size. Either way you saved me before you knew me. What if I was a robber or a rapist? I actually could kill you if I wanted to." 

"That's different; I was in complete control of the situation and either way you were in immediate danger."

"She's a little kid, how would you not be in control of the situation? Either way did you hear the weather report? We're in a strong cold front and it's only November. It's going to get below freezing tonight. Grown men die in that kind of weather, how do you think a little kid wearing rags is going to handle."

"Then let's bring her to a church or a shelter; somewhere designed to help kids like her."

"Oh please, those places just trick people so they can send the homeless off to the Satellite Sector."

"That's ridiculous."

"Easy for you to say, you don't have any real problems in life."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You have a perfect little life, in a perfectly large upscale apartment, in the perfect part of town and you go to the perfect school wearing your perfect clothes with your perfectly clean hair and your perfectly high marks."

"That's not fair and you know it."

"OK fine, your parents may spend most of the time gone but in turn they make an insane amount of money to fuel your perfect life plus you're perfect Grandfather in the meantime. You grew up in life getting anything you wanted. The one thing you couldn't get was the excitement you read about in books. I fall in your pool thanks to an explosion and you think: here's my adventure. You got your adventure, twice, all the mean while claiming that you just want to help while I do all the work. Now here we are, in a situation where you have to actually do something and you want out." Oh shit I think I struck a nerve.

"What the hell is wrong with you!? You have no right to say that about me! I have had to live with things that would make your skin crawl! I've tried to help you, I've felt sorry for you, I've covered for you and you dare call me selfish!? You dare put me in the same group as someone like Millay or half the other girls at our school!? I'm not saying we abandon this kid! I'm saying I want to be careful because unlike you, if I get myself into trouble, not magic trouble but real trouble, I have to face the consequences and that might mean violence, either way you have to come from a rich family if you go to Dewint, so why do you all of a sudden care!?"

"I'm not rich."

"What's that supposed to mean?! You have to own a golden car just to be able to afford to send your kid to Dewint."

"I'm not rich. You apparently have your secrets, I've got mine."

"Well…"suddenly she stops, she is now just standing in front of me and I can tell by her eyes, she's now thinking about something other than how much she wants to hurt me right now.

"Look, if you just want to go home, I understand."

"I keep saying all this trust stuff but I'm not even being honest."

"Is there something you need to tell me?" This is getting weird.

"What… no…well not right now at least." She sounds…bewildered for some reason. "All right, we'll bring this girl back to my place but you're not leaving me alone with her until I'm sure it's safe. We got a deal?" 

"…"I swear sometimes I wonder what's going on in her head. "Yeah works for me." Now I feel bewildered.

"Here we go." As Vanessa says this, we walk back towards Maggie. Naturally, she's still working on her apple and looks completely unfazed by Vanessa's screaming.

"Just for the record," begins Maggie, "I'm siding with Turtle neck about whatever it is you 2 were arguing about."

"And why's that," I say.

"Because she seems just as confused about what you're doing as I am."

"Fair enough, so I'll just leave the rest to you Turtle Neck." With that, Vanessa takes a deep breath and walks next Maggie who's still painting her apple. Vanessa is now crouching down so that she and Maggie are at eye level…well corner of eye level.

"You're very good at that." 

"You're not going to get me to go with you if compliments are all you got. Just because you're confused, doesn't mean I trust you."

"OK then, at least answer this, why do all this painting? It's too beautiful to only be in a place like this."

"Because my father told me to."

Vanessa shoots me a confused look but I just shrug my shoulders. Honestly I don't know what she means either.

"You have a Dad?"

"Yup, and no, he's not a dead beat. He and my mom have to take care of 10 of us. I'm the oldest so I have to help out with money. For the past few months, a man gives me a location to paint and a few cans to paint with. I do this till it either gets to dark or I run out of paint and in the morning, the man gives my Dad money and I get a new location."

"Sounds like a pretty good deal. You get to help your family by doing what you love."

OK something isn't right with this picture.

"Hey what's going on over here?" Oh shit, this can't be good. "What are you kids doing here?"

As soon as she hears this, Maggie drops her can and hides behind a now standing Vanessa.

"We're just passing through." I don't think he's going to believe that but it's worth a shot.

"Oh really and what's with all the paint?"

"It was here when we got here. Me my friend and her little sister were in Brooklyn for a small duel tournament. It's getting late and cutting through this tunnel is faster than either waiting for the subway or taking a cab in rush hour traffic."

"Well, I can't say your story doesn't make sense but here's the thing, for the past week there have been reports of a young girl who spends all day painting graffiti in these tunnels. Now normally, Sector Security doesn't pass through this piss hole, but since I was in the area, I figured I'd take a look; see if I could find the delinquent responsible."

He's now looking at the criminal mark on my face. "You wouldn't happen to think we're up to no good officer?"

"This does look a little suspicious."

"You think 2 teenagers and a little girl are responsible for all this? Last time I checked, vandalism in an area that no one really cares about isn't something you can just go around detaining minors for, especially when you didn't actually see any of us do anything." 

"Fair enough fair enough but just one last thing. You were all in a duel tournament right?"

Instinctively we all nod.

"Way I figure it, you all must be pretty good and my shifts almost over, so how about a quickie. I always keep a spare Duel Disk on my cycle."

"OK fine," this guy won't take long at all.

"No not with you, I'd like to face the younger one."

Oh shit, there's no way Maggie has a half decent deck. This is his plan, he'll play her and as soon as he see's something fishy we're screwed.

"Works for me," wait did Maggie just say what I think she said? "I was too young to enter the tournament so Chase used my new HERO deck. I'd like for a chance to test it out." 

"Is that so, well here's your chance kid."

Maggie

"All right to prove I'm a nice guy, first move is yours kid."

"Thanks mister." 

"Call me officer Ferris." 

"Right then officer Ferris, I draw. Next I summon Elemental HERO Avian (ATK: 1000/DEF: 1000). Next I set 1 card face down and end my turn." 

"Chase," Vanessa is now whispering in my ear. "That move seemed really basic."

"We might be in trouble," I whisper back. "If she keeps playing like this, he'll see through us in no time."

Officer Ferris

"Looks like you're more of a beginner than I thought. I draw, and next I play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your set card."

Oh shit, my Dimensional Prison! When his monster attacked, it would have been banished.

"A weak monster and an obvious trap, a simple strategy, sorry kid but you weren't going to win a tournament like that. Next I summon Assault Dog. (ATK: 1200/DEF: 800) Now Assault Dog, go wild on that feathered freak." 

I flinch as I see his overgrown Chihuahua bite into my hero's arm. (4000-3800)

"Next I set 1 card face down and end my turn."

Maggie

"That idea may not have worked, but let's try this 1. I summon Elemental HERO Wildheart (ATK: 1500/DEF: 1600), now Wildheart, attack Assault Dog!" (4000-3700)

All right Wildheart, get revenge for Avian by slashing Assault Dog in half!

"Sorry kid but my dogs aren't done yet." Now another one is here. "When Assault Dog is destroyed by battle, I get to summon another!"

"I set 1 card face down and end my turn."

Officer Ferris

"Hate to tell you kid, but you should never leave an opponent's monster on the field. Especially because I can do this! I summon Jutte Fighter (Level: 2/ATK: 700/DEF: 900)!"

"Oh no that's a tuner," we're in trouble.

"Now I tune my level 2 Jutte Fighter with my level 4 Assault Dog in order to synchro summon, Goyo Guardian! (ATK: 2800/DEF: 2000)

"That thing's creepy," says Vanessa. 

"More importantly, it's powerful." 

"Now Goyo Guardian, destroy his warrior!"

The rope is choking Wildheart and its unfortunately dragging him to the other side of the field. (3800-2500)

"I play Hero Signal, now I get to-"

"No you don't, I play Wiretap! Now your trap is negated and it gets shuffled back into your deck! Plus thanks to Goyo Guardian's effect I get Wildheart in defense mode! Next I end my turn."

Maggie

"Chase there's a problem." Debris Dragon has now materialized next to Ferris. "In his hand he's go another level 2 tuner."

Oh crap, if he gets 2 Goyo Guardians out there's no way Maggie can win. It's either now or never.

"I play Graceful Charity! Now I get to draw 3 cards so long as I discard 2! Next I play Miracle Fusion! Now by banishing The Avian you destroyed and the Elemental HERO Burstinatrix I just discarded, I get to fusion summon Elemental HERO Phoenix Enforcer!" (ATK: 2100/DEF: 1200)

"Claw boy may look tough but he won't help you here." 

"That's where you're wrong. I summon Junk Synchron! (Level: 3/ATK: 1300/DEF: 500) Now thanks to Junk Synchron's effect, I can special summon the other card I discarded with Graceful Charity, Tuningware (Level: 1/ATK: 100/DEF: 300)! Now it's time to synchro summon!"

Junk Synchron flies high into the sky; he then pulls the Cord on the engine attached to his back, allowing for the engine to roar. As they make more and more noise, Junk Synchron dematerializes and turns into 3 large green rings. Tuningware then jumps through the rings and dematerialized into a shining star that arranges itself equally among the rings and in a burst of light, (3+1=4) "I synchro summon Armory Arm!" (ATK: 1800/DEF: 1200)

"A black metal arm, that's your big strategy, a black metal arm?"

"Impossible." 

"Chase what's wrong?" 

"Vanessa I've had that card in my deck for months and I've never even been able to summon it."

"First up, thanks to Tuningware, I get to draw a card. Now then, I activate Armory Arm's effect! I equip him to Phoenix Enforcer in order to give him 1000 ATK points." (2100-3100)

"Now he's stronger than Goyo!" Vanessa looks amazed while I still look shocked.

"Now Phoenix Enforcer, show Goyo Guardian how you use that arm!" With that, Phoenix Enforcer takes off and plunges his new red claws into Goyo Guardian, causing him to vanish. (3700-3300) "Now Armory Arm's second effect activates, you take damage equal to Goyo Guardian's ATK points!" (3300-500)

"Wow," says Debris Dragon, "now that's power!" 

"Ha-ha, I've seen Armory Arm before and I'm not afraid. I'm still here, you're out of attacks and I've got a Hammer Shot in my hand, so there's nothing you can do to beat me!"

"You're not making it to next turn! Now I play Hero's Bond, so now I get special summon 2 level 4 or lower Elemental HERO's straight to the field! Now allow me to introduce you to Elemental HERO Clayman (ATK: 800/DEF: 2000) and Elemental HERO Lady Heat (ATK 1300/DEF: 1000) and with that I end my turn!" (500-0)

Winner: Maggie Loser: Officer Ferris

"How did, how did, how did you do that!"

"Simple during the end phase, Lady Heat inflicts 200 points of damage for every HERO on the field and with only 500 life points and 3 HERO's you did stand a chance."

Holy shit, I've never even thought of a strategy like that before!

"I get it; she summoned Avian in attack mode to make him want to waste a card more. Then it was just a game of getting the right cards in the grave."

"That's right turtle neck. I guess I know more than you thought I did."

"Well I can admit when I'm beaten. You kids are free to go."

Well now that that's done. We got to get back to figuring out a way to get Maggie to go home with Vanessa.

"But just to be safe, I mean this is a dangerous city, I'll walk you all home." 

Wait, what? 

"That's not nesciarry," says Maggie. 

"Oh but I insist." 

"But-"

"Now, now Maggie, Don't be rude. Officer Ferris is being nice. In fact, all 3 of us are coming to my house for dinner, you're welcome to join us Officer Ferris."

"Uhm…well…thanks for the offer but I'll just walk you home."

Well then…strange but effective.

Next time: This world is a sad, cruel place

"No way Vanessa, that's not how I do things!"

"We, as in both you and me, don't have a choice."

I know she's right, but I don't want her to be. "All right fine we'll do it your way." 


	38. 38 This world is a sad, cruel place

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

Chapter 38- This world is a sad, cruel place

By

By Kevin Jones

Kai takes a deep breath and walks into the Pit Stop. The place has a small dinner crowd but nothing major. Kai looks around for any familiar faces…luckily; no one currently here brings up bad memories. He then walks over to the bar and sits down.

"Evening Kai, haven't seen you in a while." Eddie, the old bar tender says this while rearranging bottles of liquor on the shelf.

"You know Eddie; you're the second person to have said that to me today." Kai says this with a serious tone.

"Let me guess, it was some good looking chica?" Eddie says this in a joking tone.

"No, no it wasn't. It was an old friend of mine named Ernie and according to him I've been making a name for myself as a mechanic."

"Good for you Kai. I always knew you'd get back up on your feet."

"And I know that his story was bull shit." 

Suddenly, the old man stops what he's doing and turns around to face a serious faced Kai.

"What makes you think that?"

"Because back in my old life, the only people who ever knew I was good with old cars were the people who I'd do work for; and the last thing they'd ever want to tell people is that they had to rely on a kid to fix an expensive car.

Eddie now looks defensive as he raises an eye brow to the young man. "What are you trying to say boy?"

"I'm only ever with 5 kinds of people, my friends, my fellow mechanics, good looking women, other duelists and whoever I start talking to around here and that last one's usually you. And guess who the most likely person is on that list who'd sell me out to my old friends."

"Kai I've known you since the day you were born. I watched you grow up, I defended you're honor while you were locked up and I was the first person to even look at you when you got out."

"I also know you'll sell any kind information to whoever is willing to pay." Kai is now starring at the bottle of in Eddie's hands. "Not to mention that looks like a pretty pricy bottle of Whisky you've got there. Too expensive for most of your normal…clients but it looks good on the shelf. Plus, it's always good to have something pricy around for when you get someone with big pockets."

Eddie carefully puts the high priced bottle on the shelf. He then puts his face only a few inches away from Kai's. "You listen here. You're just a kid with nothing to lose. You may be marked but other than that, your life is pretty easy. You don't have to worry about things like family or how you're going to pay for your next meal. I gave you a few weeks but when the bills started piling up and I needed some extra cash, I called you know who and made them an offer."

"Apparently I'm worth a lot to them?"

"Don't know, don't really care, all I know is that you had the option to avoid all of this the day you did what you did. They don't seem to want to kill you, just make sure you don't mess with their affairs again so be happy."

"You listen here old-" Kai stops because he can feel his cell phone vibrate against his pocket. He knows this means something serious, seeing as the only people who know his number are his boss, Mustang and Vanessa. All know to only call him when there's a problem.

"I'll be right back." With that Kai walks to the door and pulls out his phone. On it is a text message from Vanessa that reads. _Situation at my house, bring food._

…  
>(Half an Hour earlier)<p>

"Man I can't believe that guy actually followed us all the way to the subway."

Vanessa says this as she locks the door behind her as we enter her apartment. Like she said, the cop walked with us till he demanded we take the subway. He then sat with us and continued following us till we reached The Tops sector before he decided to leave.

"I won't lie," Maggie seems both fascinated and defensive. "This is a nice place you got here. What do your parents do, run a slave trade?" 

Boy I hope Vanessa doesn't explode again.

"Very funny, my parents run a clothing company. They spend most of their time in Europe, so I'm usually home alone."

First she's twitchy, then she's screaming and now she's being a saint. This is the craziest case of PMS ever.

"Fascinating, can I go now."

"Don't you want to stay for dinner?" Vanessa says this as Maggie begins to get up and walk towards the door.

"I never said I was taking you up on your offer. I've got to get back to my family before I'm missed."

"Funny," I say, "from what I've heard; you're an orphan."

"OK," now she's starting to get annoyed. "What is your deal with me?"

"Actually," starts Vanessa, "I'd like to know that to."

Vanessa better not be like this next month. The truth is that I'm trying to stop hearing my Dad in my dreams. A few days ago, I was testing my Runner on a track up in Harlem. When I stopped to go take a leak, I saw a beautiful mural spray painted on the side of a brick building. At first I didn't think anything of it but Debris Dragon kept bugging me about it so I asked a guy in a convenient store about it and he told me about Maggie. Apparently she's been making a name for herself especially because she's using some kind of new paint that won't wash off the walls. She's done about half a dozen of these and most people like them so much, they just don't bother complaining to the city.

The first thing I thought was that this girl is on borrowed time before the N.Y.P. Dicks get her and dump her in the facility. Then it hit me, I'm thinking about my Dad because my Dad wanted me to help the world. At first I thought saving it twice was good enough but technically in both those situations I was kind of forced into things. So way I figure it, if I chose to help this girl out of my own free will, then hopefully my dreams will be normal again…or abnormal, I don't know, normally I don't remember my dreams.

"Well…way I figure it, it's only a matter of time before the N.Y.P. Dic-," oh wait she's a kid, I shouldn't curse. "I mean the Police get you. I heard about your work from a guy near your last masterpiece up in Harlem. When Sector Security catches up to you, they'll stick you in a Facility for kids and then the Satellite. I figured that would be a waste of talent, so I came up with this idea."

Oh shit, I can tell by the look on Vanessa's face that she doesn't believe me. "All right works for me." OK, I'm starting to like this period.

"Well it doesn't work for me. Sorry I'm out of here." As Maggie says this, she dashes to the door and begins struggling with the lock.

"Sorry," Vanessa is now showing us her cell phone, "but all the door and window locks can be controlled thanks to an app on my phone. Right now none of us are leaving."

"Oh," she's starting to get nervous. "Now I get it. You paid off the cop to force me into a situation where'd I'd have to come here with you."

"Oh come on," like I have enough money to bribe a cop. "Now you're just making stuff up."

"Fine, even if that's not true, it makes more sense than you just feeling sorry for me."

"And why's that?" Vanessa now looks curious.

"Because people don't help anyone unless they want something really badly."

For only an instant, I can see a look of guilt on Vanessa's face before she tries to return to a friendly smile. Apparently what I said to her before really got to her as opposed to just getting her mad.

"That's ridiculous; Chase and I help people all time. Why Chase even helped stop a bunch of terrorists last June."

Wait the hell did she just say!

"Yeah right, and I'm a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle."

"OK, you're coming with me!" I grab Vanessa by the arm and pull her into her room.

"If you 2 are going to have a quick bang session, can I at least grab something to eat?"

I shut the door and say, "what is wrong with you?!"

"Nothing," She now looks confused again. "I just figured since…whatever you did was enough to make Wilson see you as a Hero, maybe it would work on her."

"Maggie's not from New York, can't you tell just by listening to her?!" 

"OK…give me a break, I'm from Seattle. Everyone either sounds like they were born and raised in there or Chinese. Either way if we could get her to believe you're a hero, we're set."

"I'm not a hero; I just keep being in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Don't you think you're cutting yourself a little too short? Frankly of the 3 things you've apparently done in life, beating terrorists sounds the most believable." 

"I don't care what you think! I didn't stop terrorists and I didn't save anyone, not a single person!"

"Well then what was Wilson talking about?"

"It doesn't matter, now can we please figure out how to get this girl to cooperate." 

"To do what, I can't keep her here for forever, especially when she doesn't even want to be here." 

"Well, I'd like to figure what she meant when she was talking about her Dad. Plus all this being paid to paint doesn't sound right." 

"So you just want to keep her here till we can figure out what's going on?"

"Pretty much yeah, but she's not going to tell us anything helpful, seeing as she thinks we're cop bribing slave traders."

"Oh come on, she said my parents are slave traders; we're just cop bribers."

"Oh that makes me feel better." She's cracking jokes while I'm showing my weariness.

"You know what." As she says this, she sits down on the side of the bed and puts 1 leg over the other. "You should sit down." 

"And why should I do that?"

"Because you've been standing since the park and it's starting to show. Now sit down and take a deep breath." 

I roll my eyes but do as she says. Only once I sit down next to her, I fall backwards and am now lying on the bed. "Your bed feels different from last time."

"2 things: 1 that sounded wrong and 2 this isn't my bed."

What the- "But this is your room?"

"No it isn't."

Now I'm sitting up… This isn't Vanessa's room. This room is only being lit by an automatic sealing light and has white walls. The bed we're on has white sheets and the only thing in here is a big flat screen on the wall across from the bed. "What is this, a guest room?"

"Nope, this is my parents' bedroom."

"Wait what!" I spring up and am now standing against the wall! I mean I remember what Vanessa's parents look like! There is no way I want to be anywhere near any place where her parents have- oh god even thinking about it makes me want to puke!

"Oh grow up, it's not like my parents are even here long enough to ever to even drop skin cells on to this bed."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"As in they've only spent a total of 5 nights here." 

"How is that possible? They live here."

"They're supposed to live here, seeing as there company moved from Seattle to here, mostly because New York is the fashion capital of America. They actually spend most of their time in London, Milan, Paris and basically everywhere but here. Most of their stuff is still in boxes in the storage room." 

"So you're alone most of the time?" This is getting weird.

"No actually, I spend most of my time with you guys. Me and my family haven't even had dinner together since we moved here."

"Wow, I had no idea. I always figured you, your Mom and your Dad were close." 

"Yeah well, he's not my-wait a second…I got an idea."

Oh boy, "about what?" At this point she might say anything.

"How to keep bananas from going bad, what do you think?"

"One can only assume."

"Anyways, when you pulled me in here I heard Maggie ask if she was hungry."

"So what, she's probably raided your refrigerator." 

"Even if she has, all she'd find is a bottle of Gatorade, so she's probably still starving." 

"Why do you only have a bottle of Gatorade in your home?"

"Seeing as for dinner I'm only ever eating alone; I usually just eat out. Plus 5 out of 7 days a week I have breakfast and lunch at school and typically I have lunch on the weekends with you guys."

Under my breath I say, "Plus at the rate you eat, you'd make a grocery store go bare."

"What was that?"

"Nothing, nothing, but either way, just bringing her food isn't going to make her talk."

"So we just don't go give it to her. Let's get everyone here with as much good food as they can get and start eating it in front of her. She may be tough but she's also starving. Once she sees us eating, she'll be putty in our hands."

I can't believe what I'm hearing. "We are not bribing a little girl who has probably experienced nothing but pain her whole life!"

"And we're trying to help her and sometimes, helping someone means being a little tough. She's a kid, she might fight it at first but after a few minutes, she's going to give into her stomach.

"No way Vanessa, that's not how I do things!"

"We, as in both you and me, don't have a choice."

I know she's right, but I don't want her to be. "All right fine we'll do it your way."

"Good… oh don't look at me like that. I don't really want to do this either but we need to get through to her and in order to do that we need to first make her understand what we want. Now I'm going to call the others and tell them the plan, which means that when we get back out there you need to be on my side, not hers."

"All right fine," Vanessa's starting to sound like Millay.

…

"All right, there here; I guess it's show time." Vanessa says this as she stuffs her phone into her back pocket.

For the past half hour, the 2 of us have been waiting patiently in the crazy cave for the others to get here with food. Vanessa didn't tell them what to bring, just to bring stuff that would look good to a child.

"This better work," I don't want to do this.

"It can't end up worse than any of your ideas." 

With that, we walk out of the door and back into the living room where Maggie is laying on the couch, watching TV.

"I haven't watched TV in a long time. You want to know what else I haven't done in what now feels like a long time, eat."

Once Maggie stops talking, Vanessa goes over to the front door and says, "We decided, that since I don't have anything in here, to have dinner with our friends tonight."

With that Vanessa opens the door and Damon, Kai and Toni walk through. Kai is holding 2 bags, one has a Chinese food label on it and the other seems to be from some kind of a grocery store. Toni holding a pizza and Damon…is holding a jar of pickles.

"Evening," says an exhausted Kai, "you told us since you guys hadn't had lunch, that we all should bring food, so I brought both dinner and desert and don't worry you can pay me back later." 

Kai then puts the food on the table and glances at Maggie. I do the same and we can both see that she is glancing back and forth between the TV and the food.

"And who is this?" Kai's a good liar.

"Oh," starts Vanessa, granted she seems to be laying this on a little thick. "Don't mind her, she's just watching TV." 

"But won't she be joining us?" Toni seems kind of pissy for some weird reason. "After all Vanessa, up until today, you've always seemed like the type of girl who'd offer someone dinner."

"Well Toni," oh crap, angry ginger's back. "You all brought this food so we could all have dinner as friends. We offered for Ms. Maggie to be our friend and she refused so she doesn't get to eat." 

Did Vanessa just sound like a cult leader or is it just me?

"I thought we were using the food to bribe the kid into trusting us so we can piece together how it is she has a family and why she's getting paid to spray paint tunnels and buildings." Leave to Damon to blow up a complicated plan. That being said, I'm kind of happy he did it.

"I had a feeling that's what all this was about! You guys are no better than any of the other dumb ass holes who have tried to get stuff out of me before!" 

"Look we're trying to help you." Vanessa sounds like she's at her wits ends. "We tried talking to you and we covered for you. You still won't trust us, so now we're trying bribery."

Maggie has now hopped off the couch and is scanning all 5 of us. "So apparently 2 clean teenage girls and 3 typical looking guys want to help me out of the goodness of their hearts." 

"Actually," starts Toni, "the 3 of us our just here because Vanessa told us to come over."

"Doesn't matter, you're all just here to use me. That's why people chose to hang around each other, so they can use each other."

Apart from Damon, who just looks confused, the 4 of us are looking at each other with guilty looks. Even though she's not completely right, she's not wrong.

"The only reason I'm choosing to stick with the family I've found now is because we're all honest with each other. I know that if I do my part, I'll get food in my stomach and protection from the true low lives that live in this city!" 

"You call that stable!" Vanessa is now matching Maggie in loudness and serious tone. "Look at you, you look like you haven't cleaned yourself in months, you're wearing clothes that look like they came out of a dumpster and you're wanted by the police for multiple counts of vandalism. I can't even rap my brain around how you're still alive!"

"It's because I stay away from people like you that I'm still alive! I had a normal home, nothing like this, but I thought it was perfect!"

"Then how'd you end up like this?" Asks a confused Toni, granted I have a bad feeling about where this is going.

"One day my Mom brought home a new boyfriend. At first he was nice and he'd buy us dinner and take us shopping, and I really thought he cared about my mother. Turns out he was more interested in me than her!"

We all get the picture, even Damon. Maggie has now turned around and is facing the patio door with clenched fists.

"When I told my mother about this, she didn't believe me. Thought I was just making up stories. She usually would think things like that after a few snorts of crack, but after a while, even when she was sober, she got tired of my stories. One night, she decided to shut me up with the back of a bottle, while her boyfriend just sat and laughed. I took the hint and left. That was 6 months down in Red Bank New Jersey. After I left, I'd hook up with 1 group of Noms and stick with them until they'd get captured by the cops. Somehow I'd get away and find another group of Noms. This kept happening till eventually I got here. I hooked up with the family I got now and up until today, I actually felt happy. Like for once there were actually people who cared about me and all because I know how to tag."

For those of you who don't know, Nom is a nick name for homeless people who hide out in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. Contrary to popular belief, a little more than half of New Jersey is covered in forest. Especially- what the, Kai just took the pizza and is walking towards Maggie.

"Here," he's now got the open pizza box in front of Maggie. "There's a lot of food here and if we're not careful, Vanessa will eat it all."

I angle my head so that I can see Maggie's reflection in the glass patio door. She has a confused look on her face as she tries to focus on Kai even though her eyes are trying to stare at the pizza.

"No gimmick, no strings attached, we're all hungry, let's just eat."

With that, Maggie takes out a slice of pizza and begins to eat it as if she's never eaten anything before.

…

Damon and I are back in our dorm. Damon has already fallen asleep but I'm sitting up, petting Steve.

"So how did your night go? I assume you found some great bugs in the bushes? My night didn't go as expected."

We didn't learn anything after Kai gave Maggie the pizza. I don't think we really wanted to know anything more at that point. After that she was the one who started asking questions. Mostly if TV shows she used to watch were still on the air, and general questions about my deck. By far my favorite question was when she asked Vanessa why she had so little food in the kitchen, but so many books in the living room.

After dinner…I guess Maggie lost the will to argue with us. Once she was finished eating, Vanessa gave her a bath. When they were finished, an hour later, Maggie looked like a new girl. Vanessa then found her some pajamas in an old box and got Maggie to go to bed in her room. Vanessa then told us that she believed Maggie wouldn't run away or try to kill her. We all left after that, except Toni. Vanessa said she had something to tell her.

"So now what?" Debris Dragon is now next to me.

"I'm going to call Toni in the morning, see if her crazy conspiracy mind can come up with an idea for our next step. I assume Vanessa will spend the day with Maggie."

"Sounds good to me, but you should get some sleep."

"Probably," hopefully I won't dream of my Dad.

…

A grown man and a little boy are standing across from each other on a picturesque field somewhere in Holland.

Though the man is tan skin and the boy is white, anyone who sees these 2 can tell what their relationship is.

"All right son, it's time to test your skills." As the man says this, both he and the boy put old fashion duel disks on their left arms.

Little boy

"My draw," the little boy is happy, what little boy wouldn't be happy dueling against his Father? "I summon Elemental HERO Avian!" (ATK: 1000/DEF: 1000)

Father

"Very good, you're remembering your card's names." The father looks confident. "Now I draw, and next I summon Elemental HERO Voltic!" (ATK: 1000/DEF: 1500)

The boy is laughing. "You're silly Daddy, Voltic and Avian have the same ATK, so they'll just destroy each other." "That's true, except my move isn't finished just yet. I play the spell card H-Heated Heart, which will increase Voltic's ATK by 500 until the end of the turn." (1000-1500)

"Wait but that means Voltic is now stronger." 

"Exactly, now "Voltic" attack, Voltic Thunder!" The majestic warrior releases red and yellow lightning that incinerate the winged warrior instantly (4000-3500) "Now, how will you respond, especially because I am now playing a face down card?"

Little boy

"Yeah but now Voltic is back to 1000 ATK, which means he can be taken out easily! I draw, and next I summon Elemental HERO Burstinatrix! (ATK: 1200/DEF: 800) Now Burstinatrix, melt Voltic!"

"Apparently you forgot my set card! I play Scrap-Iron Scarecrow, now Burstinatrix's attack is negated! Remember as important as attacking is in this game, it means nothing if your opponent has a powerful trap set."

"Yeah, well Voltic still can't stop my Burstinatrix. So I'll just end my turn."

Father

"That may be true, but in a duel, you must never believe your opponent doesn't have a way to around your strategy. I draw, and next I summon Elemental HERO Stratos! (ATK: 1800/DEF: 300)Now Stratos's effect activates! This lets me add 1 Elemental HERO to my hand and I think I'll pick my partner." 

"That's your favorite card, right Daddy?" 

"Of course, once you find your true partner, it will always be the card you look to for victory. Now Stratos, attack Burstinatrix, Stratosphere Storm (3500-2900) and of course, Voltic, Voltic Thunder! (2900-1900) It is now your last turn my son."

Little boy

"Don't worry Daddy; I was saving the best for last! I draw, and next I play Polymerization, now I get to send the Elemental HERO Sparkman and Elemental HERO Necroshade in my hand to the graveyard, so I can summon Elemental HERO Darkbright!" (ATK: 2000/DEF: 1000)

"Very good, very good, you're starting to get the hang of fusion summon!" 

"That's not all I figured out how to do! Now because Elemental HERO Necroshade is in my graveyard, I can normal summon 1 level 5 or higher Elemental HERO without tribute, which means I get to summon Elemental HERO Bladedge straight from my hand!" (ATK: 2600/DEF: 1800)

"Excellent, you've truly pulled off a powerful move! Now do you know who to attack?"

"Yup, now Bladedge, attack Stratos so that way if Daddy activates Skyscraper next turn, he can't destroy you!"

"Brilliant, plus you're treating your cards as allies and not just tools, but first I activate Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!"

"Then I'll just have Darkbright attack Stratos!" (4000-3800)

The boy is jumping for joy, for this is the first time he's ever been able to deal damage to his father's life points.

"Next, Darkbright switches himself to defense mode, so I'll end my turn."

Father

"So, this is what it comes down to. I draw and next I activate the field spell Fusion Gate! Now I get to fusion summon simply by banishing monsters from my field or hand! First I banish the Elemental HERO's Woodsman and Ocean, in order to summon Elemental HERO Terra Firma! (ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000) Next I banish Elemental HERO Heat and Bubbleman in order to fusion summon Elemental HERO Absolute Zero!" (ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000) 

"You summoned 2 fusion monsters in 1 turn!" The 2 majestic, white skinned HERO's are starring at the child, ready for battle. 

"That's correct, but that's not where it ends! I activate Terra Firma's effect, I tribute Absolute Zero in order to increase Terra Firma's ATK by 2500! (2500-5000) This activates Absolute Zero's effect, since he just left the field; all your monsters are destroyed!" A giant ring of ice destroys Bladedge and Darkbright while it makes Terra Firma look unstoppable.

"Well my Darkbright can kind of do that to! When he's destroyed I can destroy 1 of your monsters and I'm going with your super charged Terra Firma!" 

"Very good but you forgot about Voltic." 

"He's not strong enough to beat me this turn."

"True, but you forgot Voltic's effect. Now Voltic, attack him directly! (1900-900) Now Voltic's effect activates, I get to special summon Elemental HERO Heat to the field, now Heat, direct attack, heated slam!" 

Winner: Father Loser: Little boy

"Aw man," thinks the little boy. "I really thought I had Daddy beat for a minute there." 

The boy looks up to see his father is now standing over him. The Father lifts his son up high up in the air.

"That's my boy!"

"But Daddy I lost again."

"That doesn't matter. You were able to come up with a complex duel strategy and execute it perfectly. If you keep playing like this, you will someday become a champion. Imagine, Chase Rhodes, the next King of Games!

Next time: The destitute

"Damon is now trembling as the monsters he's been told to fear, begin to come out of from the shadows."


	39. 39 The Destitute

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

Chapter 39- The Destitute

By

By Kevin Jones

"All right, we're going on an adventure!"

"Damon, don't look so happy. People are going to think we're up to something."

"How can I not be happy? The 2 of us our going on a spy mission, while 1 of us protects the precious cargo, 1 tracks down leads and the other is on a secret assignment." 

I think the only secret here is that I'm the getting the desire to kill. "For the last time, Vanessa is simply going to stay with Maggie back at the apartment until we know what to do next. To find out what to do next, you and me are going back to the tunnel we found Maggie in to get the spray paint cans and see if we can get some clues off them; while Toni looks online for any information relating to homeless children here in New York."

"Well then where's Kai?"

"I don't know where Kai is. I assume he's somewhere where he can have peace and quiet." That being said, something does seem to be bothering Kai; before we all separated last night, Kai told us that we had to tread carefully. He wouldn't tell me why, just that we had to be careful. "Way I figure it, if he knows more than he's telling, than he knows we're not getting involved in something we can't handle."

"Are you sure about that?" 

"After all we've been through; I highly doubt spray paint and homeless people can hurt us."

I'm serious, there's no way this can get crazy. We're looking at the tunnel now and I don't see any duel spirits, disembodied brains or FBI Agents.

"Geronimo," says Damon as he sprints towards the entrance. I follow him. He pauses as he enters the tunnel. "Wow, that little girl did all this!?"

"Yup, this Damon is what one can accomplish when one uses their brain. Maybe one day, you'll know what that feels like." 

"I hope so."

Yup, everything is definitely norm…what the…where'd they go?

"Chase, have you got them yet." Damon says this as he catches up to me.

"No…there gone." I'm standing right where I was yesterday but the cans aren't here.

"Maybe they got knocked over. A lot can happen in a night."

"They were bright white, so I'd notice them here on the floor." The dampness of the tunnel keeps the decaying road beneath my feet an eerie black.

"Well maybe someone took them. Probably a homeless guy who thought he could eat it."

"I guess that's not impossible, but it was almost below freezing last night and considering how wet it is in here, it would definitely be too cold for this place to seem attractive."

"Well I don't see anything up ahead, people or paint cans." Debris Dragon has just materialized next to me. "Personally I think that cop probably came back here and took the cans so he could get evidence against you and Maggie."

"I'm with Arrow on this one."

"He didn't seem like the kind of cop who'd go out of his way for something as little as a vandalism cas-wait a second!? Debris Dragon, did Damon just agree with you?!"

"Well yeah, Arrow's idea makes sense. The cop was convinced Maggie was doing all this and we both know that cops in this city like to prove that there right."

"Yeah, yeah, but how can you 2 be communicating?!" This is where things get crazy.

"Apparently he can communicate with us duel spirits." 

"Since when?" 

"Since I noticed you talking to Arrow a while back."

"Then why didn't you say anything about it when you first saw us talking?"

"It looked like you 2 were talking about something important and I didn't want to interrupt."

"After you did your usual ignoring me once I say what you want to hear, I noticed that Damon looked like he was staring at me. Then I waved my hand, he waved back and we've been hanging out ever since."

"What do you mean by hanging out?"

"Well," starts Damon, "a few days ago we went to the movies, and we both like to go see the school football games. You know guy stuff."

Did I just here Damon call him hanging out with a ghost dragon guy stuff? I turn to Debris Dragon and say, "but you said you can't be more than a couple feet away from me?"

"I thought so to but apparently since Damon can see me, I can be around him and away from you."

"And neither of you thought to tell me this because?" 

"I thought Arrow was going to do it."

"I thought Damon was going to do it."

"Well clearly…wait a second, Damon, why do you keep calling Debris Dragon Arrow?"

"Because that's my name, don't you remember me telling it to you the night we met?"

Oh shit.

"Wait a second, did you forget my name? I thought you were just calling me Debris Dragon to remain professional!"

"Well…it's not like your names written on your card."

"My names not written on a card, but you know I'm Damon."

"That's different…I don't have anything else to call you besides your name," Other than pest.

"Wait," starts Deb-I mean arrow, "So if Kai or Vanessa wore a shirt that said Rudy every day, would you start calling them that?"

"Well…" damn that's actually possible. "That would never happen so let's get off it."

"I'm worried now," says Damon.

"I know your name, I have processed that information and- I think I know where she should go next."

"Where," asks Damon.

"Purgatory."

…

"Here we go." Kai says this as he walks through what's left of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Long ago, this 52-acre area was a beautiful paradise that featured more than 200 cherry trees of forty-two Asian species and cultivated varieties, making it one of the foremost cherry-viewing sites outside of Japan. The garden also prided itself on its large rose collection which contained 5000 bushes of nearly 1400 kinds of roses.

Today however, many of these beautiful plants are long gone. During the war, many people both normal citizens as well as deserters found refuge from the fighting by hiding in this place of serenity. When the warring factions realized this, they set the garden on fire. Neither side took responsibility for the fire but it was obvious that neither felt bad about it.

When the war was over and the city began to rebuild, many people wanted the garden brought back to its former glory but that takes time and money and when a rebuilding city wishes to put all it's time and money into making a new home for its rich and mighty, it's so much easier to just sell the land to a private owner with a large check.

That was 20 years ago. Now the garden is nothing. Half of it is to desolate to attract tourists, while the second half is dominated by a large green house. The green house itself is well kept and clean, granted no one is ever seen coming in or out. Well, nobody nice looking.

Kai, however, is unfazed by all these things. He knows the stories as well the rumors surrounding what goes on in the green house but none of this scares him. He has something important to do and he knows that he has no time to let scary stories get to him. He has the fear of facts instead.

Kai is now standing in front of a big stainless steel door. He knocks on it and says. "Open up, I'm here to speak with Vergara!"

Kai can now here a voice coming from a speaker above the door. "There's no Vergara here kid. You're on private property no get out of he-" 

"Oh save it. I know there's camera's zoomed in on me and I know there telling you right now who I am."

"Let's assume there's any truth to what you're saying kid. Why would anyone here want to even talk to you?"

"Because Vergara hates me and I hate him. So he and most likely all of you know that I'd only come here for a good reason."

"And what reason is that."

"If you must know, I have a friend who is getting a little too close for comfort to one of your big deals. I'm simply here to tell Vergara that my friend is not trying to mess up your operation, he's just trying to help a little girl."

"Well I'll be sure to relay-oh wait…it would appear the man you're looking for was listening into our conversation and he just sent us a message for you."

"Oh Christ," Kai says under his breath.

"The message reads: Kai my old friend, as you were informed the other day, there are no hard feelings on my end but I have a business to run and believe it or not, beautiful Miss. Maggie is essential for my plan and I can't let your little friends screw it up. Because of this we are beginning procedures to make sure your friends never interfere with our plans. Once again it's nothing personal, it's just business." 

Kai doesn't wait to hear what the man has to say next. Instead he begins to run back to the main road; Once he is out of the garden, he pulls out his cell phone and begins to dial Vanessa's number; all the mean while saying to himself; "I should never have let Chase talk to this kid."

…

"Damon, how much do you know about what World War 3 did to this city?"

"Uhm," I can tell this is not Damon's area of expertise. "Oh wait, after the war, they created the Satellite Sector and the Tops Sector."

"Basically, but right now were standing on one of WW3's after affects you don't see in the history books." Right now the 3 of us are in an old sewer tunnel that got rerouted after the war. Because of this no water goes through here but the tunnel is too unstable to be used as an actual subway route. It runs right along the East River so if anything, like another war, were to hit the city; this tunnel would most likely flood. I seriously doubt the paper thin metal sheets that cover the entrances to the tunnel, which include an unlocked door, would stop major flooding for very long but hey, city's got to cut corners somewhere.

"So what are all these people doing down here?"

"These are society's destitute and forgotten. There homeless but they don't want to get thrown into the Satellite Sector, so they basically built a community down here."

"Why don't they just leave the city?"

"And go where? The suburbs aren't much better than the city itself and with winter on the way, no one could ever survive a trip to some of the farming areas of the country without money."

"But there living in boxes, damp boxes." Believe it or not, Damon is actually speaking quietly for a change. Most of the people here seem to be keeping to themselves inside there boxes. Granted at the rate the lights flicker, they could easily be pulling out homemade weapons to kill and rob us.

"Better damp boxes than tiny cubicles."

"Huh?"

"Damon, Satellite isn't the small working community people make it sound like. It's a slave trade."

"But slavery's illegal." 

"Laws are just words on paper. What happens in the real world is usually decided by the people who understand that fact. Give people money, it's not slavery. Even if that money can only be used in the Satellite Sector and there are giant walls preventing anyone without authorization from going in or out."

"So then why are we here?"

"Because there's someone here who can give us the information we seek."

With that me and Damon begin walking through the middle of the tunnel. The tunnel, like Damon pointed out, is pretty damp. You can clearly tell by the greenish white stains on the walls that when it rains up top, it leaks down here, which gives these people a decent supply of drinking water and from the looks of some of these people who are huddled in boxes it also makes them sick. There are enough rats and other small vermin around here to keep these people fed. Granted I don't intend on getting lunch down here.

"Hey Chase, do you think there are any Alligators around here?"

"Alligators, why on earth would you think there are Alligators down here?"

"Don't you know the story? People buy them as babies and when they get too big, people flush them down the toilet and they grow up down here."

"Damon," starts Arrow, "that's an urban legend. There's no way Alligators can survive down here." 

"Actually," I say, "the temperature down here stays pretty consistent. Also, as you can see, there's more than enough food down here to keep a couple of gators alive."

"Oh no, I knew that movie we watched last night was right! We're going to get eaten by Alligators!"

"Great Chase," starts Arrow, "now everyone's staring at us."

"How nice it is to see that being incarcerated didn't take away your twisted sense of humor."

The 3 of us shift are gazes to a little old man who has crept up behind Damon. He is sickly skinny wearing a button upped black coat. He has glassy green eyes and liver spots on his cheeks. He is hunched over and seems to be shaking as he stands. The feature most intriguing is that he's wearing a bandana on his head and above the bandana's knot is large round bump on the back of his head, hopefully Damon won't notice it because that's a conversation we shouldn't be having any time in the near future.

"How do you know Chase?" As Damon says this, the man begins to examine both of us with his eyes.

"Because I know every fact, everything there is to know I have in my head." He's starting to get enthusiastic. "Chase Hussein Rhodes, exact birthdate, day and month unknown but most likely born in the year 2024 due to his current age being 16. 5'11 Height, 140 pounds weight, Aire to th-"

"All right, all right, we get it, you know a lot of information that no one else should."

"Hussein?" Well at least he's not curious about the Aire thing.

"Chase, can we get through this, it's almost noon."

"Anyways, Damon this is Henry Smith. He is someone who has the unique ability to retain every piece of information he comes across."

"Cool," says Damon.

"How," asks Deb-Arrow.

"Aww, that's not important." Henry Smith is happy, partially because we're paying attention to him and also because he knows what I can give him. "What is important is what you came here for. Unless my origin is why you're here for but I doubt that."

"You know me well, Mr. Smith."

"Not as well as I'd like to." 

I ignore this. "We're here for information on spray paint cans." 

"Spray Paint cans?"

"Spray paint cans and homeless children."

"Oh," he is now rubbing his hands and licking his lips. "What an interesting challenge. That being said, I seem to have heard a few things during my adventures in this city that pertains to what you're asking me. Granted all information I give comes at a price." 

"Uh," begins Damon, "I got 10 bucks." 

Smith is now laughing loudly and it's attracting the attention of the surrounding people. "I'm not talking money kid, I'm interested in information."

"What can you do with information?" 

"Ahh my boy, some people down here have drug or gambling addictions but my addiction is to information. I crave it, I need it, and ever since a young spiky haired boy came down here asking about terrorists, I've been trying to get his information. There's not a lot, which only makes me want to know more."

"Wait, Chase why were you looking for terrorists?" 

"That's not important. Now Mr. Smith, how would you like to see my deck in action?" 

"I can see that any time. You're going to need to give me something better. How's about you tell me about that scar."

"You misunderstood me. What I mean is how about I give you an insight into just how close I can call a match."

"Continue." 

"Here's how this will work. I'm going to duel the kid behind me. I will win by making a move that will have him cowering in fear." 

"Interesting… he better not let you win."

"I don't know what's going on here," says an excited Damon, "but I always play to win."

"Alright then, if you can show me something interesting through this duel, I'll tell you everything. If I don't see anything interesting, you'll have to tell me your past, deal?"

"Damon, pull your Duel Disk out of your back pack and let's get started."

Damon

"All right, since I'm completely lost I'm going first. I draw and next I play the Field Spell, Charicific Valley!" All the homeless people and boxes are gone. Damon and I are now in a big valley with a giant dragon's head looking down on us.

"This wasn't in your deck last time I checked."

"I know I made a few changes last night after you went to bed. Now, I activate Charicific Valley's effect! I get to special summon 1 Charmander (ATK: 200/DEF: 0) from my deck in defense mode. With that I end my turn!"

Chase

"Never seen this strategy before, it won't change things but at least it's different. I draw, and next I summon Elemental HERO Avian (ATK: 1000/DEF: 1000)!"

"Hah, this happened during our last duel. Only this time, I remembered to put Charmander in defense mode."

"True, but now I play H-Heated Heart! This will boost Avian's attack by 500 (1000-1500) as well as give him piercing ability, Now Avian attack Charmander, Feather Quill Cascade!" Avian fires his feather's at Charmander, (4000-2500) causing Charmander to explode and send a thin wave of flames at me. For those of you who don't remember, when Charmander is destroyed, I take damage equal to the combined amount of his ATK and DEF. (4000-3800) Yeah it's not much.

"Now here comes the fun part! When Charmander is destroyed, I get to place 1 Char Counter on Charicific Valley." One of the eyes on the dragons head is now glowing red.

"Very well then, I set 1 card and end my turn."

Damon

"My Draw and next I activate the effect of Charicific Valley, only since I have 1 Char Counter, instead of little Charmander, I can summon his big brother Charmeleon!" (ATK: 1200/DEF: 0)

It's another lizard, this one's a little bit bigger and red but it looks like the other one. The only real difference is a dull horn thing coming out of the back of its head.

"What's the matter Chase," says the old man, "not sure how to beat this creature?"

"Chase doesn't get worried, luckily, neither do I. Now, Charmeleon, destroy his Avian, Ember!"

A small blast of fire is heading towards Avian. "Oh no you don't, I activate the trap, Scrap-Iron Scarecrow! This card negates your attack and then resets itself." The ridiculously small blast of flames hit my Scarecrow and my Scarecrow didn't even budge, go figure.

"Fine then, I end my turn." 

Chase

"It's my draw, and next I play E-Emergency Call, this lets me add 1 Elemental HERO from my deck and I'm going with Elemental HERO Sparkman! Next I summon Sparkman (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1400) and guess what Sparkman's attacking Charmeleon!" A volt of lightning leaves Sparkman's fingers and zaps Charmeleon. (2500-2100) Now a big plume of flame is heading right for me.

"If you thought Charmander was bad, then check this out. When Charmeleon is destroyed, you take 1200 points of damage!" (3800-2400) "Also," the stone dragon's other eye has now turned red; "when Charmeleon is destroyed I get a Char Counter!"

"Pretty, I end my turn."

Damon

"You won't think it's pretty after it causes your defeat. Observe, now by destroying Charicific Valley, I get to special summon 1 of the most powerful monsters in my arsenal!" The valley is now shaking and cracking. The sky has turned red, and flames are exploding from every corner of this field. Suddenly, I hear a large roar coming from the giant dragon head.

"I summon Charizard!" (ATK: 2200/DEF: 0) This time around, the lizard has been replaced by a giant orange dragon with a white belly. It has 2 horns coming out of the back of its head, and like the other 2, it has a flame burning on its tail.

"That's it?" 

"Not exactly buddy! You see when Charizard is summoned via the effect of Charicific Valley, he gains 1000 ATK points!" (2200-3200)

"Ok that might be a problem."

"Yeah especially because I'm playing Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your Scarecrow and on top of that, I'm summoning Ivysaur in attack mode!" (ATK: 1100/DEF: 1100)

"A toad and a dragon," says the old man. "Whatever will you do?"

"Now, Ivysaur, destroy Avian, razor leaf!" Leaves are slashing Avian's wings. (2400-2300) "Now Charizard, destroy Sparkman, Blast Burn!" Now Sparkman is on fire. I feel like I'm on Game of Thrones. (2300-700) "Next I set 1 card face down and end my turn!"

Chase

"Is this a duel or a hand held video game? I draw…and next I summon Elemental HERO Bubbleman! (ATK: 800/DEF: 1200) Now because Bubbleman was summoned while I control no other cards, I get to draw 2 more! Next I play R-Righteous Justice; this lets me destroy your set card!" Dimensional Prison, I hate to say it but Damon's starting to get the hang of this."

"Bubbleman can't stop me."

Yet he still doesn't get the whole complex strategy thing. "I play Miracle Fusion! This card lets me banish Elemental HERO's Avian, Sparkman and Bubbleman in order to fusion summon, Elemental HERO Tempest!" (ATK: 2800/DEF: 2800) Tempest looks like Avian only bigger. His costume is blue with green, silver wings, a glass visor and laser gun instead of a right hand. "Now Tempest destroy his Ivysaur," (2100-400) now that's what I call weed killing.

"You still can't stop my Charizard!"

"Just watch because I'm placing 1 card face down and ending my turn."

Damon

"My draw, and next I play the equip spell, Shiny Armor!" Charizard has now turned black. That's too cheesy, who'd ever want to do that to a perfectly fine…well kid friendly looking dragon? "Now Charizard is unaffected by card effects and when he destroys a monster by battle, you take damage equal to your monsters ATK."

"So if that attack destroys Tempest, I'm done."

"You bet buddy!" Perfect, he forgot all about why we're dueling. "Charizard, end this!" A huge blast of flames is heading towards Tempest who has his wings in front of his face.

"Sorry Damon, but this duel isn't over yet." When the flame hits Tempest and explodes, my face down disappears. As the smoke clears, my warrior is safe." (700-300)

"What just happened?"

"Tempest's effect, if he were to be destroyed by battle, I can destroy 1 card I control to negate the destruction," Tempest is smiling, so am I.

"Yeah well Tempest still can't stop Charizard, so I'll just set a card and end my turn!"

Chase

"My draw and next I play HERO Flash! Now by banishing H-Heated Heart, E-Emergency Call, R-Righteous Justice, and the O-Over soul I destroyed for Tempest's effect I get to special summon 1 Elemental HERO normal monster from my deck and he can attack directly! Now, come forth, Elemental HERO Clayman!" (ATK 800/DEF: 2000)

"Nice try, but I also know that HERO Flash let's your normal monsters attack me directly. That's why I'm activating, Fiendish Chain, now Clayman can't attack!"

Clayman is now wrapped in chains. Once again, we're on Game of Thrones, that being said, this makes my victory all the more better. "Hey Damon, remember when you asked me about Sewer Gators?" 

"Yeah why?"

"Well, you were lied to. There real, watching you right now and just waiting for a chance to strike." 

"Chase," starts a nervous Arrow, "What are you doing." 

Perfect, Damon is starting to get nervous. "No there not," he says this, yet he's looking in all directions.

"Just watch, because there here now, I summon Gator Synchron!" (Level 2/ATK: 1400/DEF: 1000) Damon is now trembling as the monsters he's been told to fear, begin to come out of from the shadows. My monster is a green little robotic Alligator. This cute little guy now has Damon screaming.

"Get it away!" 

"Damon, it's not re-

"Now I tune my level 2, Gator Synchron and my level 4 Clayman!" Gator Synchron roars loudly as his snout begins to fade away and is replaced by 3 green rings. Clayman flies through the rings and dematerializes into 4 shining stars that fashion themselves evenly among the rings and in a burst of light, "I synchro summon Gator Warrior!" (ATK: 1700/DEF: 1300) A metallic warrior wearing armor that looks like Alligator scales and a metal Alligator head over his right hand has Damon in the fetal position."

"Incredible," says a shocked Henry Smith.

"If you think that's awesome, then watch this. I activate Gator Warrior's effect! Now, I get to select 1 of my banished Warrior type monsters and return it to my graveyard!" A ghost like image of Sparkman has now appeared next to Gator Warrior. "Now by returning Sparkman to my grave, Gator Warrior's ATK increases by that of Sparkman's!" (1700-3300) 

"It's going to eat me!"

"Sure, now Gator Warrior, destroy his Charizard, Reptilian blast!" The Gator jaw has now opened and is absorbing volts of lightning. He is now firing those volts at Charizard, annihilating the cheesy looking dragon thing." (400-300)

"Chase," starts Arrow, "you're evil." 

"Now, Tempest attack him directly, hurricane blaster!" A blast of energy has hit Damon…who still is in the fetal position. (300-0)

Winner: Chase Loser: Damon

"Incredible," Says Henry Smith. "You set up a perfect example of induced fear. I've been alive for over 70 years, and I've never seen that, how long were you setting that up?"

"Since last night, with a scary movie about giant Alligators, this morning I found an old newspaper in our school library about an Alligator that escaped a zoo a few years ago and I didn't tell him we were going in the sewer till we got here so he never associated the 2 till we got here and I started laying things on thick."

"How did you plan all this so fast?"

"Now it's your turn to talk."

"Fair enough," he says this while rubbing the bump on the back of his neck.

"This is fair." starts Arrow, "you get the cool stuff while I nurse the sidekick back to health.

"Spray paint cans…orphans…homeless children…you…ahh yes! Have you ever heard of the 12 Diamonds?"

"A bunch of big name drug dealers. What do they have to do with this?"

"The head of their New York division, Antonio Vergara, is testing a new method of drug trafficking here in this city."

"Fascinating, and that has what to do with paint?"

"That I'm not sure, but it has something to do with a little girl named Maggie. Apparently she's a good artist and Vergara has teamed up with a man named Cole Reese. That's all I got."

"So drugs, a major criminal organization, and a mysterious guy, per-

"Oh and this morning while I was hanging around a diner where these guys like to hang out, I heard something else. Apparently, Vergara already knows what happened to the girl and where she is. He's probably sending someone after her now." 

"Wait…what?" Oh god what have I done.

"Damon we have to go now."

"But the gators!?"

"Damon, we don't have time for this, Vanessa's in danger!"

…

Vanessa is lying down on her sofa reading a book while Maggie is pacing around the living room.

"When can I go?" 

"Right now we're waiting on everyone else to come up with a lead. Until then we will stay here."

"You make it sound like you've have done this before."

Vanessa, without taking her eyes off her book says, "That's what it's starting to feel like."

"So then this is what you do? While everyone else does the dirty work, you just sit back and wait for when someone can use you?"

Vanessa puts down her book but before she can say anything, her phone vibrates. She pulls it out of the pocket on her red hoodie and pushes a button revealing a text message.

"Good news Ms. Prim, Kai says that she's sending over a social worker who knows you and he should be here in a couple of minutes."

…

A man is knocking on Vanessa's door. He here's a lock click open and the door open a little.

"Hello there," says Vanessa from the crack at the door. "Are you the social worker here about Maggie?"

The man smiles and says, "yes, my name is Ernie Cardenas. Mind if I come in?"

Vanessa puts on a big smile and says, "sure, make yourself at home."

Next time: Cat and mice

Kai falls to the ground hard. He then hears, "bang, bang"


	40. 40 Cat and Mice

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

Chapter 40- Cat and mice

By

By Kevin Jones

"So where is Maggie?"

"She's taking a nap in my room. Would you like something to drink?"

With that Ernie Cardenas walks into the large apartment and follows Vanessa to the kitchen.

"When Kai told me that you all were able to get Maggie to come here, I didn't believe him. Then he showed me a picture he took of you all last night having dinner and I figured you all must have done something I couldn't." 

At this moment, Cardenas is thinking back to orders. "All I have to do is bring the little girl back to the safe house in Brooklyn and the rest is up to the boss. As for the red head…that's all up to me."

"Ok," Vanessa now has the refrigerator door open and is bending down to look at the lower shelf. "I've got Gatorade, and Pepsi." 

"Anything's good," is what Cardenas is saying but what's he's thinking is, "She's cute, I think I'll have some fun with her."

"Then Pepsi it is." 

"Good, it's been a long time since I've had a good f-I mean Pepsi." He is now walking towards her, with his hands out.

"To bad you're not getting it from me!" Within an instant Vanessa turns jumps around and sprays Cardenas in the eyes with cold pepper spray.

"In coming!" Suddenly Kai runs into the room and smacks Cardenas over the head with a baseball bat.

"Well he's out." Vanessa says this once Cardenas hits the ground.

"Not for long, you said your Step Dad has a truck and trailer downstairs, right?"

"Yup, let me just check to see if we have a phone signal again."

With that, Vanessa pulls out her cell phone and puts it up to her ear and here's nothing in return.

"I can tell by your face that you've got no signal."

"Worth a shot."

"That's what I thought too when I tried calling you before but these guys are smart. They were able to get my cell number as well both your cell and house numbers and block them."

"Where'd they get the technology to do all this?"

"The drug business has given these guys endless resources and there smart." 

"Fair enough. I'll go grab Maggie, you get lurch downstairs."

With that, Kai grabs the facedown Cardenas by the shoulders and is now dragging him across the floor while Vanessa heads to the main bathroom. She then opens the door and see's Maggie using a nail file to wear down a tie rap that has her arm attached to a metal towel rack.

"Did you actually think that was going to work?"

"Had to try something, seeing as you're going to get us killed."

"No one's dying today." With that Vanessa pulls out a pair of pliers and begins to cut through the tie wrap. "We are going to bring the guy Kai just knocked out to the FBI building over on the east side and then we'll figure out what makes you so important to these guys."

Maggie is staring at Vanessa in disbelief. "Do you actually believe that?"

Vanessa looks her straight in the eye and says, "Completely."

…

"Man this sucks!" Kai is in the driver's seat of the truck with Vanessa riding shot gun and Maggie in between them.

"Not so easy when you can't just cut in between lanes using your motorcycle now is it?" The van is sitting in bumper to bumper traffic in the middle of Broadway.

"Is this really the conversation you 2 should be having right now?"

"Oh no, I'm going to enjoy every moment of Speedy Gonzales over here actually having to sit in traffic like the rest of us."

"All this while you have a murdering thug in the trailer behind us?"

"Pretty much," Vanessa is choosing to act cool. If one were to look at her shaking left hand, they'd know she's scared.

"That guy back there couldn't hurt a fly unless he gets the jump on it." Kai knows the situation is still dangerous, partially because he knows these people aren't stupid and partially because seeing Vanessa's hand trembling is making him nervous as well.

"Wait," starts Maggie, "you know this guy?"

All of a sudden, both Vanessa and Maggie are giving Kai confused looks.

"Come to think of it," begins the older girl, "you seem to know an awful lot about these guys."

"I've heard of these guys around town."

"So have I," begins Maggie, "But you seem to know exactly what their plans are."

"Listen," Kai is not doing a good job at hiding his growing nervousness. "We need to stay focused. From what I know, these guys are way more than ordinary thugs." 

"That's an understatement, llama Poco." 

Suddenly, everyone almost jumps out of their skin as they realize that not only did that sentence not come from anyone in the car but that it sounded like it came from the radio.

"Kai, what's going on?"

"Easy red," says the Hispanic voice from the radio. "You llama Poco have something we need and we're going to take it from you."

"And how's that?" Kai is trying to sound brave, but he is actually scanning the grid locked street for anything irregular.

"Simple," the voice is giggling, "in a few minutes, two cops will knock on your doors. When they do, just go calmly. They've got guns and there not against shooting women and traders."

"Listen you-"

"Can you see us?" Vanessa's interruption is accompanied by her lowering her head and guarding her face with her left hand.

"Of course, now why don't you stop hiding your pretty face."

"Alright fine," says a reluctant Kai.

…

2 men dressed as cops are walking towards a red van. They've been told to simply go up to each side, open the doors and escort a young man, woman and girl to a new model cop car, currently sitting in front a Barnes & Nobles.

"So, how do you want to do this?" The man on the left says to the man on the right. If anyone could hear them over the sounds of rumbling cars, this would sound like typical speech between coworkers.

"Like we usually do, walk up, give our usual cop bull shit and escort them to the car. Only this time, we then don't shoot them."

"Shame, after what Kai did, I was hoping to get the honor of putting a bullet in him." 

"You and I both buddy, you and I both. Maybe if we ask nicely, we'll at least get to watch."

The 2 men laugh as they walk up to the van; one goes to the left, the other to the right. They can see the 3 people in the van hesitantly staring forward, pretending not to notice them. The man on the driver's side is now knocking on the window.

"Is there a problem…officer?" Kai is not even looking at the officer, nor is he speaking with a cooperative tone.

"We'd like to ask the 3 of you some questions. If you'll please exit the vehicle and come with us."

Kai looks over at Vanessa and Maggie, they both nod. With that, Kai opens the door.

"Now!" Yells Vanessa as she quickly bends over and grabs a tire Iron from underneath her seat. She tosses it over to Kai who then leaps from his seat and whacks the man in the head with the tire Iron.

"What the-"Before the other man knows what to think, Vanessa swings open the door, slamming the other man in the face.

Vanessa then grabs Maggie by the hand and pulls her out of the van. They quickly circle around and Join Kai. The 3 then begin running through the street before turning right and joining a crowd of people.

"What just happened?" Maggie is both frightened and confused.

"Simple," starts Vanessa, "that van doesn't have any cameras in it. So even if he hacked the van's phone; there was no way he could see us. That meant he had to be watching us somewhere. I decided to figure out where."

The 3 then begin walking north on Park Avenue and Vanessa keeps talking. "While that voice was yacking and you were staring at the radio; I slipped my hand into my left pocket and pulled out this little antique.

With that Vanessa pulls an old cell phone out of her pocket and waves it in front of Maggie.

"What's that," asks Maggie.

"This is an I-Phone. Apparently it was all the rage like 30 years ago. Today it's so obsolete, modern technology can't even pick up a signal from it. I used to think it was ridiculous that my mom kept this all these years but hey, every blind squirrel finds a nut sooner or later."

"But what happened if they saw you?"

"Well luckily I knew where all the keys on the keyboard were and when it was time to show the message to Kai, all I had to do was move my head down enough so my hair would cover my hand, there for making it too hard for a guy, probably with a telescope, to see the edges of the phone."

"That wasn't my question. What I mean is what if he was looking at us from a different side and saw the phone, then what?"

"Like you said, either way we're doomed." 

…

"Vanessa, pick up the phone immediately! This is very important."

"Chase that's the third time you've called her and we're already up to her building."

"If this elevator would move faster than we'd be there already." 

"We're going as fast as we can. I mean the minute we got out of that tunnel you took my phone and called Toni, told her what we heard, and then told her to go to the FBI. That's when you started calling Vanessa."

"She should be picking up. Now is not the time for her phone to be off."

"Aww," starts De-Arrow, "this is cute. You're worried about her."

"Of course I'm worried about her."

Suddenly, both Damon and Arrow are staring at me in disbelief.

"Could you repeat that?"

"Damon, I'm being serious. I asked her for help on this, thinking it would be simple. That makes her my responsibility. I thought this would be simple but it's not. We're once again involved in some strange shit and if anyone comes after us, there going after her first and I refuse to let that happen."

"Aww," says Arrow, "so you're going to do whatever it takes to protect her." 

"I hate you 2."

"Is that why your face is turning red?" Asks Da-

"We're at her floor. Now can we go figure out what's going on here, without you guys talking?"

"No promises," as Arrow says this, the elevator doors open and we walk into the…oh shit.

"Hey Chase," starts Damon, "Vanessa's door is at the end right?"

"Then why's it open?" I'm now running towards her door. Oh shit what's happening now!?

"Well now, who do we have here?"

"Oh shit," no sign of Vanessa or Maggie, but there's 3 guys, all tattooed, all tan, and all big. I'm assuming there all involved with the 12 Diamonds.

"Don't worry Chase I'm here!"

"Oww," Damon just slammed into me, there for knocking us both to the ground, there for putting us in an incredibly bad position, there for insuring very bad things to us.

"Hey Carlos," says a bald guy to the guy who just talked. "Looks like this girls got to body guards."

"And from the looks of it Hector," says Carlos, "she should trade them in for some better ones. Now you and Pedro, bring them over here." 

With that, Hector and Pedro dash over and pick us up. Hector has me by the neck and Pedro's doing the same to Damon. Only difference is Damon is still talking.

"Let us go and tell us what you did with Vanessa and Maggie!"

"You tell us," says Carlos. "Our boss sent 1 of our guys to grab a couple of brats at this address. That was about an hour ago, apparently they escaped and we've been sent here to see if we can find any clues as to where there going or maybe something we can use as leverage against her."

"Take a book, that's mostly what's in this place." From the looks on their faces, my loveable wit isn't winning them over.

"Listen kid," says an irritated Carlos, "from the looks of it, you boys belong with us, not her."

"Vanessa's our friend!" Shouts an angry Damon, "We'd never help you."

Carlos puts a big smile on his face, revealing a gold tooth where his left Incisor should be. He then walks over to me and pets me on the cheek that has my facility mark.

"You boys both have criminal marks."

"I also have a tattoo on my ass, wanna take a look."

"You also have an attitude. Seriously though, look at this place. It's a rich white person's home. You too don't look rich unless you're both fucking that bit- Ahhhhh!"

I just kicked this bastard in the nuts. Now he definitely looks pissed.

"OK, fine, you don't want to be friendly. You don't want a little locker room talk, fine, than I'm not helping you." He is now walking over to the living room table where there's some kind of metal brief case. "You want to play rough. Fine let's play rough."

With that he opens the brief case to reveal a yellow duel disk with black lightning volts painted around it. He then takes out the Duel Disk and places it on his arm. He then pulls a USB Cable out from a compartment underneath the summoning blade and places it in the USB port on my Duel Disk.

"Seeing as you came in here with a Duel Disk on your arm, that makes you a hard core card player. I'll have you aware that I'm not half bad myself." 

"That's a shock disk, isn't?" This is not going to be good.

"What's a shock disk?" As Damon says this, the man holding on to me pushes me to the ground.

"Simple," says Carlos, "when dueling with a shock disk, every time one of us loses life points, this little baby will release 50,000 volts into the body of the loser. The shock isn't enough to kill but it lasts as long as it takes for our duel disks to reach the new total."

"But wait," starts Damon, "what happens if you inflict a lot of damage with like 1 attack?"

"Well, let's just hope that doesn't happen." It's been a long time since I've dueled like this. Let's see if I've gotten a little rusty.

Chase

"All right kid, to show you I'm not all bad. You may go first."

"Oh that's good," Yells a frantic Arrow, "he's going to burn you to a crisp but at least you get to go first!"

"I draw"-

"Don't ignore me, there's no magic this time, just electrocution!"

"I summon Elemental HERO Avian (ATK: 1000/DEF: 1000) and with that I end my turn."

Carlos

"That's it," yells Arrow, that's all you're going to do! He could shock you to death and you're going to play 1 of your weakest mon"- a piercing look from Avian shuts up Arrow. "Ok I'll be quiet…go Avian.

"I draw, and next I play the continuous spell Chain Energy, now you must pay 500 life points to in order to declare an attack. Next I play the spell card, Ookazi! Now you take 800 points of damage!"

Ah shit that hurts! (4000-3200)

"Chase are you ok!?" 

"I'm fine Damon," it feels like getting poked by a needle, on every inch of my skin.

"I bet you are. I now set 1 card face down and end my turn."

Chase

"I draw and next I summon Elemental HERO Sparkman!" (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1400)

"All right, now a real attacker"- once again, Arrow is cut off by a look from Avian.

"Now, Sparkman attack George Lopez directly!"

"Oh, racism, really mature, either way I play the trap Negate Attack! Now your attack is negated as well as your battle phase but guess what still has to happen."

Ahh, Christ, it didn't last as long as the last one, but it feels worse thanks to my skin feeling like its crawling. (3200-2700)

"Wait a second," starts Damon, "the 500 life points is a cost, not damage." 

"Doesn't matter," I'm starting to feel a little woozy. "If I lose life points, I get shocked."

"But that means if Carlos wants to attack you, then he'll also get shocked."

"Then it's a good thing I don't run any monsters."

Damon looks shocked, "how can you run a deck with no monsters!?"

"Because this is what you do, isn't." I've dealt with guys like this before. "Every turn you plan on plan on dealing me just a little bit of damage, until the pain gets so bad that I just tell you everything you want to know." 

"Not a bad strategy now is it?"

"Just make your move."

Carlos

"You'll be speaking to me with a better tone in just another minute."

"You'll have to by me dinner first." 

"How about I just draw, and next I'll play another Ookazi! Which means another 800 damage for you!"

"Not exactly sparky," As a blast of fire heads straight for me, an orange light comes to protect me. "I discard Hanewata to negate all effect damage for the rest of the turn."

"Well aren't you lucky, I set 1 card face down and end my turn." 

Chase

"Let's just see how lucky I really am! I draw," now were talking, "I summon Junk Synchron!" (Level: 3/ATK: 1300/DEF: 500)

"You're in trouble now!" As Damon yells this, a light comes out of Junk Synchron's right hand.

"Now Junk Synchron's effect activates, I get to special summon 1 level 2 or lower monster from my graveyard!"

"How is Hanewata going to help, it's useless unless it's in the hand!?" Arrow knows nothing.

"Now here we go," time for a comeback. "I tune my level 1 Hanewata, level 3 Elemental HERO Avian, and level 4 Elemental HERO Sparkman!" Hanewata is fluttering in a circle. The faster it flies, the more it fades away and is replaced by a green ring. Avian and Sparkman are now jumping up and landing back to back in the circle. As they do this, they also vanish and are replaced by 7 shining stars and in a burst of light, "I synchro summon, Stardust Dragon!" (ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000)

"There's no way, there's just no way. I've been hearing rumors of a white boy duelist who has a Stardust Dragon. I always thought it was bull shit!"

"Show's what you know," yells Damon, "take him down Stardust!"

"You heard him, Stardust Dragon, Cosmic Flare!" Stardust Dragon's mouth opens and a large blast of white cosmic energy begin to launch itself at Carlos.

"Oh no you don't, I play the trap card, explosion Blast! Now you're monster gets destroyed and you take damage equal to its ATK!"

"Only one problem, that's not going to happen, I activate Stardust Dragon's Victim's Sanctuary, by tributeing him, I can negate your trap and destroy it!"

"Not bad but don't forget, you now a get a little juice!" Oh fuck this getting hard! (2700-2200)

"I…set 1 card face down and now that I'm ending my turn Stardust Dragon comes back to the field!"

Carlos

"And with that it's my turn. I draw and…Synchro Barrier."

What the hell? The hologram of my face down just flipped over.

"Chase, how are you activating that card now?" What Damon doesn't realize is that this was probably part of the plan from the beginning.

"That thing is hooked up to more than my life point reader, isn't it?"

"Of course, I can see everything you play but I feel like you already knew that."

"Like I said, I've dealt with guys like you before."

"Oh really, well if that's the case, let's see if I can separate myself from posers. I play the spell card, shatter boom! Now because I have no monsters in my grave, I get to inflict damage equal to double your monsters ATK!"

"You know what that means, I play Synchro Barrier! Now by tributing 1 synchro monster I get to reduce all damage to 0 until the end of the turn!"

I hate to have to do this but I'm forced to watch as Stardust turns into a blast of light that guards me from shards of glass and more electricity.

"Wait a second," starts Damon, "if you didn't have a way to stop Synchro Barrier, then why make a big deal about knowing what it was?"

"Because he wants me to feel hopeless, he knows Stardust Dragon is my strongest card and he thinks that if he can take it away from me, I'll give in and tell you what I want."

"Well, that's the first part."

"What's the second part?" As Damon asks this, Carlos places 4 cards face down on his side of the field.

"Just watch, I end my turn."

Chase

I have a bad feeling about this. "I draw and next-"

"I play my first trap, Secret Barrel, now you take 200 points of damage for every card on your field and in your hand!"

"Oh no that's 5 cards!" which means I take one- aw fuck that hurts! (2200-1200)

"Next I activate another Secret Barrel, so it looks like you'll be staying down!"

Oh lord, dear god, I can't take it, this is insane! I can't breathe, it's like there's weights on my chest. I can feel my stomach actually twisting itself into a not. My eye balls feel like there bleeding. It's as if my very skin is constricting me.

"Chase get up, come on get up." I guess Damon thinks I'm on the ground. I don't really know. I can't feel anything right now. All I can feel is pain. At least it's almost over.

"Now then I activate the quick play spell, Knife made of candy!" Here it comes. "Now your life points go back to 4000!"

Oh dear god, this is never going to end.

"Why would you do that, now it's like the duels back to the beginning?"

"Actually Blondie, it's exactly like that, because now all cards in my graveyard that have inflicted damage to my opponent get shuffled back into my deck."

It'll never end. He can keep shocking me over and over again. I'll keep getting worse and worse, until there's nothing left of me.

"Having said that, there is one way out, all you have to do, is tell us what we want to know." 

"Don't listen to him Chase," Damon's talking but he's not saying anything, "You've got a tuner monster on the field, plus 4 cards in your hand! You can still turn this around!"

"But you can't take anymore more voltage, can you Chase? You've lasted longer than most and you're just a boy; no one can blame you if you give in now. Just tell us where Kai and the girls went and the duels over, you'll be free."

Freedom, I can end this, be done with all this.

"Chase, you can't," I think that's Arrow. You can't just abandon Vanessa! She'd never do that to you. If they find her, you know they won't just let her go. You know what horrible things will happen to her. She's counting on you and you can't let her down!"

"Let her down-"

"What was that? Was that I surrender? If that's the case, you're going to need to speak up."

"Let her down."

"I'm sorry what?" 

"I refuse to let her down! Not again, I won't let her down ever again!"

"What the hell does that mean!? Wait a minute how are you able to start standing up!?"

"I won't let you get her! I won't let anyone take her away from me, not again!?" 

"Kid you're loco! You can barely stand, how do you hope to stop me!?"

"Easy, I play Polymerization! Now by sending Elemental HERO's Burstinatrix and Bubbleman to the graveyard in order to fusion summon Elemental HERO Steam Healer!" (ATK: 1800/DEF: 1000)

"Fine, I'll take a little damage, but so will you." 

"I don't care; I won't let you touch her! Now Junk Synchron, attack him directly!" (4000-2700) 

"Shit, I'll never get used to that. But you're probably going to go down again!" (4000-3500)

"Steam Healer, take him out!" (2700-900) 

"How are you- how are you still standing!?" 3500-3000)

"Finally, I play the quick-spell, Miracle Synchron! Now by 1 banishing 1 Synchron tuner and 1 or more non-tuner monsters I control I can synchro summon from my graveyard!" 

"Wait, but that means-"

"I summon Stardust Dragon! Now Stardust Dragon, make him stop talking, Cosmic Flare!" (900-0)

Winner: Chase Loser: Carlos

"Oh god, this pain I've lost these duels before but this feeling, it's like you're monster actually hurt-" 

"You did it Chase you took him out!"

"Chase, the energy you're giving off, it's not normal…Chase…Chase…can you hear me?

"K-Ka-Kal-"

…

"We're almost there," says Vanessa as the 3 walk through upper Manhattan.

"This is never going to work." Maggie says this as she scans the area looking for signs of danger.

"Stay focused," says Kai, "we need to-" Suddenly, a large object hits him in the back of the head.

Kai falls to the ground hard. He then hears, "bang, bang."

Next Time: llama Poco

When I walked in through the door, I saw the thing that basically changed the course of my life.


	41. 41 llama Poco

Yu-gi-oh

No Limits

Chapter 41- llama Poco

By

By Kevin Jones

"Bang, bang," Vanessa and Maggie look shocked as Toni begins to unmake her fist. "That's what you get for putting me through all this crap today!"

"Toni, why on earth did you do that!?" As Vanessa shouts this, Kai begins to get back up.

"Because this jerk forgot to tell us the most important part of this whole thing," Toni then pulls out her phone and brings up a news article dated January 29th, 2040.

"12 Diamonds drug mule sentenced to 10 years for possession of yet to be disclosed illegal substances."

"Undisclosed my ass, read through the article, apparently this peddler has a very familiar name. Here are 2 hints, it's someone we know and he's a little bit tanner than us."

"Toni, we should get inside, we're almost at the FBI building."

"Vanessa, doesn't this concern you?!"

In a calming voice, Vanessa says, "Let's head inside. We can straighten all this out there."

"Did you know about this?" Vanessa is simply staring at Toni. "Well…alright fine but there better be a good reason for this. Like, they strapped a bomb to him good!"

The 4 begin walking and as they do Kai, who is now on the right end of the line, nudges Vanessa who is to his left.

"How long have you known?" Kai whispers this with both an intrigued and confused tone.

"I don't know any of it," Vanessa whispers back.

"Then why do you seem to be on my side?"

Vanessa smiles and says, "If you were really a scum bag then you wouldn't keep putting yourself in danger to help Chase."

…

"So these are what suits look like." Maggie says this while looking around the office of the FBI.

"Are we any different from what you imagined we'd be like?" Mustang says this as he takes a seat at a conference table, surrounded by Vanessa and the others.

Maggie looks around, nods her head and says, "Yes."

"Let me guess. We're a lot cooler in person." Mustang says this with a grin.

"Actually you all seem boring and kind of useless."

Mustang's smile has now been replaced with a look of annoyance. "OK, I've humored you all enough. It's a Saturday, I should be at getting caught up on the Jets, but instead I'm stuck here, talking to you kids."

"You showed up didn't you?"

To respond to Vanessa's remark, Mustang leans back in his chair and says, "Because we're a division of the FBI that deals with unusual events. So far you kids have brought us 2 cases, so when you've got something interesting to say; we listen. Having said that, the person who has brought these cases to me is not here, nor is the boy who is a walking case and if that's not enough you bring a smart mouth little girl.

"I told you that she's being used in something strange."

"No, you told me that she was told to tag buildings. I figured there was something you weren't saying, so I decided to meet with you guys expecting a big juicy tip, turns out I'm just babysitting."

"We were just attacked, twice, First in my apartment and then in the middle of a busy Manhattan street."

With that Mustang rolls his eyes and says, "If you want, I'll call a buddy of mine down in the organized crime office, but unless you give me something that involves something bizarre, I can't help you."

"How's a major drug smuggling ring being ran by a group that most people don't even believe exist?"

Everyone is now staring at Kai as if he has just sprouted a second head.

"Kai," says Mustang, "do you know anything that could make this case worth my time?" 

Vanessa can see that Kai is unable to find words nesciarry to answer the law man's interrogation style question. She then leans to her right and whispers into his ear. "Are you sure you're ready for this?"

Kai then whispers back to Vanessa. "No, but I have to do this."

Vanessa then puts her hand on top of Kai's which is clutching on his knee. "No matter what you have to say, we're not abandoning you."

Kai is now looking deep into the young girl's eyes. He is 4 years older than her but right now he feels as though he is scared child standing next to a strong adult.

"First things first," Kai is now confidently addressing the group. "Maggie, I don't know the details but I know you're part of a venture called the clean sweep."

"Sounds like a cheesy movie thing." Maggie says this, and then begins to remember something.

"If the phrase means anything to you at all, it's probably just through local chatter. The people behind it aren't known for sharing their plans."

"And these people are the 12 Diamonds?" As an inquisitive Toni says this, she begins, to recall certain details. "A group of Mexican drug dealers who run the world's drug supply."

"That's an urban legend," says Kai, "only one of them is Mexican."

"Have you met them?" Asks a confused Mustang, who is writing everything down the young man says on a pad of paper under his right arm.

"Only the Mexican one, they're really not an organization as much as they are just a bunch of guys with a mutual agreement."

"And that agreement is?" As Toni asks this, she can tell that Kai is about to say something he's been holding in for a long time.

"It's easier for drug lords to work together than shoot each other."

"But why would drug dealers want to work with other drug dealers?" Vanessa sounds confused but she continues anyways. "Don't they believe in like turf or something?"

"Ha, that was 30 years ago. After the war, most prime drug territory got destroyed-"

"The Mexico bombings," says Toni, "When the government was able to retarget nuclear bombs directed at the US by sending them to the Mexico desert!"

Mustang snaps at Toni, "that didn't happen!"

"Then why did so many bombs hit Mexico if they didn't even send in troops into battle?" 

"Well…Kai just keep talking."

"If you say so," Kai takes a moment to collect himself. "All major drug trafficking to North America came through Mexico. Even groups in Eurasia, needed it because of the low security around Mexico's ports."

"How does this involve me?" Maggie is starting to sound bored.

"Well," Kai does not appear annoyed or happy to tell this tale. It is something he has to do, nothing more. "After a few years of trying to get through a nuclear waste land as well as getting their stuff through now even heavier security ports, the underworld decided Racism and tradition was getting in the way of profits."

"A hundred years of pride and racism we're thrown away just like that?" Vanessa finds these facts perplexing thanks to years of books and movies that have told her to believe that drug dealers are savages, ruled by pride and loyalty.

"Death by radiation poisoning is a very good motivation. Businesses merge all the time, why shouldn't these businessmen decide to work together?"

"But it's not a business," starts Vanessa, "they sell drugs and kill people. They destroy lives, families and communities. That's not business that's evil."

"When a big franchise like Applebee's or Walmart comes to a town and causes all the small time restaurants and stores to close. A lot of people lose their lively hoods and that causes people to lose their homes and in turn their families. That's sad but everyone just calls that business."

"That's not the same thing." Vanessa is starting to look confused. Never before have these thoughts gone through her head before.

"To homeless people who lost everything because Walmart closed down there lively hoods, there's no difference." 

"OK, enough with the moral debate," starts Mustang, "let's just get through this." He turns to Vanessa and says, "OK?"

Vanessa slouches in her chair and says, "Fine with me."

"Fast forward to now days, the world drug trade is controlled by these guys and they do their own thing, then whenever they have new ideas for selling product, they come together and figure out how to make it work."

"So that's it," start's an unbelieving Toni, "this is nothing but an experiment that Chase interrupted?" 

"Makes sense to me," says Maggie. "The people in my family are always being used by someone bigger."

"Wait," Mustang is now confused, "you have a family? Vanessa I thought you said this girl didn't-"

"Can we just let Kai finish his story?" Vanessa breaths a side of relief, the last thing she needs right now is Maggie feeling offended.

"Before I got locked up, the diamonds had a meeting. I don't know the details but they wanted a lot of us low level guys to look for graffiti artists. People who could get to places, do whatever it is there needed to do and get out without anyone finding it suspicious."

"So…this is happening all over the city?" As Toni says this, everyone begins to wonder if every graffiti tag they see on the street isn't simple Vandalism.

"Doubtful," begins Kai, "if this plan was being implemented across the city, they'd simply kill her. They wouldn't even care about you guys. The fact that they want to bring her in and shut you all up, basically means that Maggie is the test subject in a plan they have a lot of faith and money in. They need her and now that they've lost her, they'll do whatever it takes to get her back." 

"Could that involve harming my family? Maggie asks what Vanessa and Toni are thinking.

"You, yes, Vanessa, Toni, your families are safe. Vanessa your family is too rich to be able to target and Toni, your family is too connected to your neighborhood. They need to keep this as quiet as possible."

"Based on what's happened so far," starts Vanessa, "they're not doing a good job."

"Ha," this makes Kai smile, "when at any point today has anything happened that to an outsider would look strange?"

"We ran from a truck while being chased by guys dressed like cops in the middle of a busy Manhattan street."

"A Mexican guy with a criminal mark running from the cops, yeah no one's ever seen that in this city."

"Well…I…you…I give up." Vanessa slouches into her chair and takes a deep breath and says, "now what?" 

"Well," starts Mustang, "here's what we're going to do. I'm going to get a protective detail for both Vanessa and Toni. Nothing big, just 1 or 2 agents to watch out for anything to dangerous; the last thing we need right now is to lose Maggie to the Foster care system so she'll stay where she is with Vanessa." 

"Wait," starts a now confused Toni, "I though like 10 minutes ago you were saying nobody cares about a little girl spreading graffiti." 

"True, but with Kai's testimony, I can get some friends of mine over in narcotics interested and we can get something going; everyone joins the FBI wanting to one day take down a big crime ring." 

Suddenly Kai's face perks up. "Wait, you aren't putting my name on that, are you?" 

Mustang now looks confused. "Of course, these are just notes I'm taking. First you've got to give a formal statement; we'll worry about that later. Then, seeing as you're the first person to ever reveal any information on these guys you'll have to be part of the team that takes these guys down." 

"Wait, wait, wait…team? As in, I'd be working with you guys to arrest these people?" Kai is beginning to get anxious.

"Uhm…," Mustang is now confused, "yes, I figured that was obvious."

"And then," he's beginning to look around the room. Vanessa can see that his legs are shaking. "Would I like have to, uhm, testify at trials and stuff."

Mustang is beginning to get annoyed "And I'm sure in 30 years you'll write a book on it all and make a lot of money. Where's this going?"

Kai is now breathing heavy and is no longer looking around the room; he is merely staring at his lap. "I can't do this,"

"What!?" Yells Mustang, the attitude of the room has now changed from attentive to aggressive. "You all drag me here on my day off and then give me the ability to begin the biggest drug bust since God Damn Pablo Escobar and now you're revealing this was a complete waste of time!" 

"Mr. Mustang-"

"Don't you Mr. Mustang me Ms. "here's a case for you," why? Because over the course of the past month I have succeeded in giving a little legitimacy to do this division but guess what, all it takes is a couple more stunts like this and I'm back to pleading not to get stuck somewhere else during every budget meeting! Now I want you to seriously think about this. No one's going to listen to me without someone who can provide first hand evidence that these people even exist!"

"What if he's like a confidential informant?" Vanessa is now on her feet, trying to act as a barrier between the steaming FBI Agent and the now shut off boy.

"A confidential informant is only useful as a final piece in a puzzle that's almost complete. I need him to prove that these people even exist. If I go to anyone above me with nothing more than an unnamed testimony, I'll be laughed at before I even finish the first paragraph!" 

"But you've got Maggie, she's the key to all this."

"Hey," begins the little girl, "don't drag me into this, up until a couple of minutes ago, I was just making art for an extra buck."

"Either way, a little street rat isn't going to get me very far!"

"Toni, help me," Vanessa is starting to sound desperate.

"You 2 are on your own. I'm with Sir Shouts a lot on this one." 

"Toni-"

"Don't Toni me Nes," now Toni is angry, "we are now in trouble with drug cartels, apparently the one's that control the world. Kai, who's supposed to be our friend, has known this the whole time, and used to work for them. Now, instead of helping, he's just going to sulk." Toni turns her head to face the now only non-combative person in the room. "What's a matter Kai, afraid to look the people in the eye who used to tell you to bend over, or maybe you're still following orders."

"What?" Kai is now looking the girl in the eye.

"Yeah, makes sense, they are you're people after all." 

"Toni!" 

"No, no Vanessa, I don't really mean it as a race thing. I just mean he was probably with them his whole life. That doesn't just go away. Maybe when he snitched, and things didn't go his way, he decided to go crawling back and for whatever reason they took him. Now he's just waiting for the chance to screw us over."

With that, Kai gets up, doesn't make a sound and dashes out of the room. Everyone is now wide eyed and confused.

"Damn it Toni," Vanessa is the one to break the silence. "Kai isn't one of your computers. You can't just yell whatever random thing goes through your head at it!"

"Hey I mean it. We don't know anything about this guy. He literally just showed up with Chase and Damon at my door and we just took their word that we can trust him."

"We can trust him. He's our friend."

"He was their friend first. We're just a bunch of white kids that Kai met fresh out of the joint. Why should he value us over his old life?"

"Because- never mind." With that, Vanessa begins to walk away. She knows there's no point arguing with the stubborn girl.

With that she exits the room and spots a bathroom door closing across the hall. She scurries towards it and walks through, unfazed by the Men's room sign.

"Girl in the boy's room," with that Vanessa turns her head to see Kai peeing into a Urinal.

"Look…don't listen to Toni." Vanessa is trying to keep a warm inviting tone, while masking a growing sense of unease and confusion. "You know she just says whatever comes to her mind, no matter how wrong it is." 

Kai pulls up his zipper and starts walking towards the sink. "It's a fair assumption; I can't blame her for thinking it."

"No it's not, all that's in the past. You've proven yourself to be our friend multiple times. Toni had no right to question whose side you're on." 

Kai is now slowly washing his hands, staring deeply at the running water. "Funny, less than a year ago there was a shit tone of people who would've said just that."

"Kai, those people weren't your friends. There criminals who were just using you-"

Kai slams his hands down on the sides of the sink. "I know you're right, doesn't mean shit though." 

Vanessa puts her hand on his shoulder. "Look, I know this complicated but you got to believe we're on your side. You can trust and tell us anything."

"You mean like a family." Kai is beginning to relax.

"…Yeah, I guess so. As strange as it sounds, I consider you guys my family."

As she begins to smile, he slowly moves his head over to her and she can see every emotion he has on his face. "Family, not a subject I know a lot about."

With that, Kai stands straight up and begin walking backwards until he is leaning against the back of a stall wall. "My Mom died…when I was about 4, I don't really remember her, just images in my head. Then when I was about 10…my Dad got shot, gambling debts…that I remember. I remember rage, anger, sadness, confusion and then after a few days, hunger.

"But shouldn't you have been put in a home?"

"No one knew and no one cared. My old man was a nice guy but he wasn't the type of person anyone would miss. No one wanted to help me because that meant another mouth to feed." 

"What about the police?"

"Where I grew up, going to the cops meant getting dumped in the Satellite Sector…actually that's probably true today."

"Then how'd you survive?" 

"I was never a drug dealer if that's what you're thinking. My Dad's gambling of choice was dueling. He'd bet whatever he could on whatever big duel was coming up. I learned how to duel from watching the greats and after I found out I wasn't very good stealing. I started getting by through duels. I didn't really have a deck, not like I do now, just whatever cards I could find, but it worked. I'd challenge guys twice my age, make a couple bucks a night, I was getting by just fine…well, at least fine enough."

"Is that how these guys found you?" 

"You bet; they heard word of an 11 year old who could duel like a 20 year old and next thing I know, I'm living in a nice apartment overseeing the East River. It was with a bunch of drug dealers and thugs but hey, I had a nice view."

"So I take it you were with them until you got arrested?"

"Bingo, for 7 years I had the job of winning them duels in underground matches. I didn't do anything illegal, just kept winning, until one day-"

Vanessa can tell that there is a chain holding her friend back from telling the rest of his story. She knows it would be best to stop the conversation here but she can't stop herself. "Did you like…get asked to throw a duel and you refused?" 

Kai begins to laugh out loud. "You're funny, that only happens in movies. No, no, no, you see, if I started losing, then there's no use for me. That's what gets bullet in your head, these days."

"Then what did you do?"

"The member of the 12 Diamonds who calls New York home is a man named Jose Vergara. He's crafty, intelligent and always has a plan. He's the one who built my fire deck." 

"He was a duelist like you?" 

"You bet, he took me under his wing and showed me techniques I could never have learned just from watching TV."

"He was like a father to you?" 

Kai looks at Vanessa with a confused look.

"Sorry, sorry, I know that sounds wrong." 

"Actually that sounds about right. He did stuff my Dad never did, took me to ball games, showed me how to talk to girls, gave me my first sip of beer. He really did treat me like a son and I betrayed him."

"What," Vanessa pauses as she tries to analyze the heavy look on her friends face as he intensely stares into the mirror, "what happened?"

"One night, after a big tournament…we went to a hotel. There were 8 of us, I think, I was too hammered to care, it was great. That was until someone brought over some girls. This was pretty common and the night should have ended well but drunk I decided that Vergara needed some ass. I'd never seen him with women before. Honestly I just assumed it was because he was always working. Rather it was running his empire or babysitting me- I never imagined he was- he was-"

"You found him with a child didn't you?"

"How'd you-"

"Whenever you look at Maggie or Toni brings up her little brother, or even when you see a kid on the street, you always give this look, like they remind you of something." 

"Am I really that easy to read?"

"No, but after a while, I just sort of noticed. You always act so calm and mature, or at least more than Chase and Toni, I guess it makes it more obvious when something's bothering you."

"Didn't even notice that happens, I never really let anything get to me. Even with my Dad, I always had a feeling he'd get in too much trouble one day but when I found Vergara in a store room of all places, I just lost it. I never really deal with children and to be honest you're the youngest friend I've ever had but that night, seeing him with a little girl, she couldn't have been older than eight and…look I was never ignorant. I've seen guys with hookers, I've heard guys outside my window get shot in the back of the head and I know how sick these bastards can get, but that night, I still don't understand what got into me. I just ran up to him and put my hands around his neck. I watched him turn blue. If a couple of guys didn't find us and pull me off him, he'd be dead…because of- Instead, they beat the crap out of me for a few days, framed me for a crime didn't commit, I don't remember what, and put me in the facility. They said I was too good to kill so; they stuck me behind bars to be an enforcer. My job was to keep the pecking order in place and find duelists who could be useful for us. Like I said if you're still useful to them, you stay alive."

"How long we're you in there?" 

"A good…6 months I want to say. Honestly after a while I stopped counting the days. I didn't care about anything anymore, I betrayed the closet thing I had to a father and it got me stuck in a pit. The only reason I was staying alive was because some bull shit sense of loyalty wouldn't let me hang myself. I faded away; I just lived every day so I could beat opponents. I pretended to be happy with it, mostly so no one ever think of me as a friend and ask me what was wrong. Dueling had nothing for me anymore, just a job.

Then Chase showed up, I could tell there was something about him, something different. There was something less than human about him."

"Wait, what!?"

"…I don't mean literally. What I mean is, when you look at him, you can tell he doesn't fit in with the rest of the world. You can tell something happened to him, something beyond right, if that makes any sense.

"Actually it kind of…well, does."

"It shouldn't, we all want to believe that no one can be like Chase. To be that dark and negative, yet still have some weird desire, even if he doesn't realize it to do good in the world. I don't know if it's because of his family or just because of what he's been through but if there's one thing I know for certain, his life is balanced by dueling. When I faced him that day, even though he didn't have his real deck, I could feel all his emotion and passion being shot at me like a lightning volt. At that moment I wanted to be like him, someone who clearly has a problem, but has put himself to something and uses it for his goals. I know it sounds pathetic right? A 19 year old man saying he looks up to a 16 year old kid, it's really stupid, I mean I'm nothing but a traitor."

With that Vanessa puts her arms around Kai and begins to hold on to him tightly. "You're not a traitor, you're not a prisoner, you're Kai Rodriguez. A powerful duelist who once upon a time was involved with some bad people until one day, you chose to follow your conscience and because of it, even though some things happened in between, you're now a good guy who has friends who care about you, even if they don't always show it."

With that Kai adjusts himself so he can now hug Vanessa. "Thanks, I needed to hear that."

"You feel any better?" 

"I don't know, but there's something comforting about knowing that at least you feel confident in me." 

"That's good, that being said, there is one thing that's starting to get me nervous." 

"That we're hugging in an empty men's room?"

"No…actually kind of, but what's happened to Chase and Damon?"

…

"Let us out, let us out! I will not be silenced and I refuse to give up!"

"Damon, no one said…you know what never mind." To all of you who are wondering, no, just because you beat someone in a duel doesn't mean you scare them away. If anything it means when they haul you off, they're less gentle.

"Well I got to do something, what happens if they think we're planning something?"

"Then wouldn't they assume your yelling is a distraction so I can execute the plan?" We've been here for 4 hours; they drugged us when they threw us in the back of their van and when we came to, we were here.

"Well…maybe…then what should we do?" 

"Since they didn't take our wallets, decks, your cell phone or clothes, then that means they need us unharmed…outside what's already happened. That means they need us intact or at least someone they answer to does."

"Well then what are they waiting for?"

"To hear back from their boss," Arrow has just flown in through the wall and is now hovering above us.

"What do they need to know?" Asks Damon, took him long enough to say something useful.

"Beat's me, there's only one guy speaking English in there and all he asked was when will the boss call back."

"Were they all speaking Spanish?" I think this all starting to come together.

"I think so, granted I'm not as good with languages as you 2." 

"Then that's one question, we're dealing with Mexicans."

"That's kind of racist," says Damon.

"Not like that, I mean the Mexican drug cartel. They've been a big player in this city's crime world for almost a century. Now that I think about it that makes a lot of sense. It also explains what Kai's been hiding."

"What do you mean?" Damon said it but Arrow looks just as puzzled.

"Kai was one of them before he got sent to the facility." 

"What, How on earth do you know that!?" 

"Damon it's obvious, I've suspected for a while that he was ex-something and like I said this morning, I have complete faith that if this thing gets bad he'll tell us the truth which I assume, seeing as we've been kidnapped, has now happened. That's why I'm saying it now, so you don't go bugging him about it later. The last thing I need right now is you causing him to go either guilty or angry on us."

"Excellent call, a wise leader always knows how to use his available tools," That voice came from a loud speaker that's…somewhere in this room.

"I assume, you talking to us mean you know what you're going to do with us?" 

The Manhattan sounding voice responds with, "actually no, but I'm kind of curious about your blond friend."

"Me, bring it on!"

I have a bad feeling about this. "What do you want him for?"

"We've been looking into you to. You Mr. Chase Rhodes, your records are sealed so apparently you've got something to hide."

Oh shit, "and you guys don't have people who can find me out anyways?" 

"Of course we do, but from what we could find, it doesn't seem that anyone would be interested in paying a ransom for you." 

"Fair enough," man's got a point.

"But this kid doesn't have a seal on his records, seeing as you can't seal what doesn't exist."

"So," oh shit Damon's talking again,  
>"I'm the one you want to know about, right?" <p>

"We've got to find some use for you to. Mr. Rhodes over has pissed quite a few people off so will figure something out for him. As for you, well you seem too stupid to be servant and to annoying to be someone's bitch."

God Damn it, I can't argue with that logic and I still feel too weak to put any energy into a witty come back.

"You want to know what I'm about; then you've got to beat me!"

He did not just say that, "Damon that is a terrible idea." 

"Why not," he says, "we know that these guys duel so why not put their boss in his place now."

"I'm with Damon on this one."

"Listen you two, we can't risk that this is part of their plan." 

"I don't what you mean by two but I like blonde boy's idea. I haven't had a good duel in a while."

"Then open the door and let's get started!"

With that, the door swings open and the three of us exit.

"Nice to meet you both," the man who says this is wearing a grey suit with a blue tie. He's clearly Hispanic and he's giving off that suave business intelligence look A.K.A the most dangerous kind of man we could be dealing with right now.

"So this is a duel arena, I couldn't tell seeing as your Gorilla's had us blind folded." Essentially the room we've walked into appears to be a small 100 person duel arena. It's clean and well-kept minus the giant sign in front of our faces that reads it's a Trap!

"What can I say, rules are rules. Now than Mr. Damon will you please place your deck over on the D-Pad." What I'm assuming this guy is talking about is a silver Podium a few feet from where we're standing.

"Where's the cord to shock him." I'm done pulling punches.

"No electrocution here, this isn't an interrogation, just a little something to get to know you better."

"Enough for me, let's go!"

I have a feeling nothing I say will make a difference at this point.

Damon

"All right kid, the first move is yours."

"Don't need to tell me twice. I draw, and next I play flight plan! Now I can special summon 1 Winged-beast Tuner Monster from my hand! Now allow me to introduce you to Pidgey" (Level: 2/ATK: 400/DEF: 500) A little brown Sparrow, that'll help. "Next I normal summon Pidgeotto (Level 4/ATK: 1400/DEF: 1500) and when he's normal summoned Pidgey's effect let's me increase its level by 1! (4-5) Now since that's done, I tune my level 2 Pidgey and my level 5 Pidgeotto!" Pidgey began wiping up a huge gust of wind. The streaks of wind are now turning into 3 green wings and are placing themselves around Pidgeotto who is turning into 4 shining stars and with a loud bang in the air. "I synchro summon Pidgeot!" (ATK: 2400/DEF: 2500) Great, now there's an even bigger bird, this one with a gold crest on its head.

"All right Damon, that'll show him!"

I look at Arrow and say, "how's that?"

"While Pidgeot is on the field, all damage Damon takes is reduced to 0."

"Now I activate the effect of the Pidgeotto in my graveyard, I can banish it so, that way up to once per turn, Pidgeot can't be destroyed by battle or by card effect!"

"Not bad, now that's how you start a duel."

To be fair, he does have a point.

"After seeing the way your lackeys duel, I figured you to also use a burn deck. Once I realized that, I knew what my best move was. Now let's see what you can do.

Leader

"I guess you're not as dumb as you seem. That being said, a man doesn't get to where I am in life without knowing an extra trick or to."

He's now smiling; you all know what that means.

"Now I play, Synchro, Ejection! Now I get to banish your synchro monster, than you take damage equal to that monster's ATK!" Pidgeot is now being sucked down into a large black hole in the center of the field. Once it's gone, the hole fires a blast of black energy at Damon. (4000-1600) "Next I play 2 copies of the card Ookazi! Now you take a total of 1600 points of damage!" Damon is going down in flames…literally. (1600-0)

Winner: Leader Loser: Damon

"Man, I thought that strategy was going to work."

"Well kid, I won't lie, you we're on the right track, but if I were you I'd run some better traps. Now then, I need to put your blindfolds back on so we can escort you to a car outside. It will take you to anywhere you want to go in the city." 

Something's up, "Just like that?"

With that, he smiles and me and says, "Just like that."

Next Time: A better place

I took one luck at her and found myself speechless.


End file.
